In November 2024, Microsoft announced the internal preview of SQL Server 2025, the successor to SQL Server 2022, designed to align seamlessly with the latest industry trends. SQL Server 2025 empowers developers to create AI-driven applications that harness the power of data, while significantly enhancing security, performance, and availability. In May 2025, at the Microsoft Build 2025 conference, the company officially released the public preview of this cutting-edge version.

This new iteration integrates AI capabilities directly into the database engine, introducing native vector data types and vector search functionalities, enabling semantic search and similarity matching via T-SQL. Furthermore, SQL Server 2025 refines secure caching mechanisms and introduces robust connection encryption, supporting the advanced TLS 1.3 protocol.

To cater to the needs of developers, Microsoft has also launched a complimentary SQL Server 2025 Standard Developer Edition, which encompasses all the features of the Standard Edition. This edition facilitates a wide range of development tests, empowering developers to innovate and experiment freely.