SQL Server’s History Is the Version on the Box.

The latest version of SQL Server is SQL Server 2025 (version 17.x, RTM build 17.0.1000.7), generally available since 18 November 2025. Four versions are in Microsoft support today: 2025 and 2022 in mainstream support, 2019 and 2017 in extended support (security updates only). SQL Server 2016 left extended support on 14 July 2026. The table below lists every release from SQL Server 2000 to 2025 with its internal version, RTM build and support dates.

SQL Server versions list

Builds are the original release (RTM) builds from Microsoft’s latest updates and version history list; cumulative updates raise the last two parts of the number. Release and support dates come from each version’s Microsoft lifecycle page and are the last day of each phase (Pacific Time). Mainstream support brings security and non-security fixes; extended support brings security updates only.

The release column is the start of support on Microsoft’s lifecycle pages, which for some versions falls weeks after the RTM build: Microsoft’s build list dates the SQL Server 2012 RTM build 6 March 2012 and the 2008 R2 one 10 May 2010. SQL Server 2000 has no lifecycle page left; its release month is from Microsoft’s engineering history and its support dates from Microsoft’s SQL Release Services announcement for Service Pack 4.

Extended Security Updates. After extended support, Microsoft has sold up to three more years of critical security updates. For SQL Server 2014 they run to 12 July 2027, and SQL Server 2016’s three ESU years started on 15 July 2026 and run into July 2029 (2014 and 2016 lifecycle pages). Microsoft’s end of support overview says ESUs need Software Assurance or subscription licenses. The ESUs for 2012 ended on 8 July 2025, and those for 2008 and 2008 R2 on 11 July 2023, the last year on Azure only.

Windows Server has its own dates, and a SQL Server instance is only as supported as the operating system under it: see the Windows Server versions and lifecycle table.

How to find your SQL Server version

Connect to the instance and run SELECT @@VERSION;. It returns one string with the version, build and edition. For separate values, use SERVERPROPERTY:

SELECT SERVERPROPERTY('ProductVersion')     AS ProductVersion,
       SERVERPROPERTY('ProductMajorVersion') AS MajorVersion,
       SERVERPROPERTY('ProductLevel')        AS ProductLevel,
       SERVERPROPERTY('ProductUpdateLevel')  AS UpdateLevel,
       SERVERPROPERTY('Edition')             AS Edition;

ProductVersion is the build, in the form major.minor.build.revision. Its first number names the release: 17 is SQL Server 2025, 16 is 2022, 15 is 2019, 14 is 2017, 13 is 2016, 12 is 2014, 11 is 2012, 10.50 is 2008 R2 and 10.0 is 2008. ProductLevel returns RTM, a service pack such as SP3, or a CTP; ProductUpdateLevel returns the cumulative update, such as CU12. Edition tells Enterprise, Standard, Developer and Express apart, which matters more for licensing than the version.

From Sybase on OS/2 to Microsoft’s own engine

Euan Garden’s history of the SQL Server team is Microsoft’s own account of the early years. Microsoft and Sybase started a partnership in 1987. Ashton-Tate/Microsoft SQL Server 1.0 shipped in 1989 for OS/2. SQL Server 1.1 added Windows support in 1990. Version 4.2 for OS/2 followed in 1992, the first release with significant Microsoft code.

Microsoft then built SQL Server for Windows NT on the 4.2 code, while Sybase moved on to System 10. The partnership was dissolved in 1994, and Microsoft shipped SQL Server 6.0 and 6.5 within 18 months from the NT code base.

SQL Server 7.0 was the rewrite: a new database engine, query processor, storage engine and data access APIs, plus OLAP Services and Data Transformation Services. It reached RTM in November 1998 and general availability in January 1999. SQL Server 2000 followed in August 2000 with multiple instances, a new clustering implementation, data mining and SQLXML.

2005 to 2016: CLR, columnstore, in-memory

SQL Server 2005 brought CLR integration (SQLCLR), XML in the engine, Service Broker, Integration Services rebuilt from the ground up, and Report Builder. SQL Server 2008 and 2008 R2 followed; both left extended support on 9 July 2019, but they still turn up in inventories, so they belong in the table.

Microsoft’s columnstore history traces the analytics line. SQL Server 2012 introduced the read-only nonclustered columnstore index. SQL Server 2014 added the updatable clustered columnstore index and In-Memory OLTP. SQL Server 2016 made operational analytics possible with an updatable nonclustered columnstore index on a rowstore table.

2017 to 2025: Linux, Azure, then AI

SQL Server 2017 brought the same database engine to Linux and Linux containers as well as Windows, and added Python to Machine Learning Services (what’s new in 2017). It was the first version without service packs, only cumulative updates.

SQL Server 2019 added Big Data Clusters, Always Encrypted with secure enclaves and data virtualization with PolyBase (what’s new in 2019). Microsoft retired Big Data Clusters on 28 February 2025.

SQL Server 2022 is the Azure-connected release: Azure Synapse Link for SQL, Microsoft Purview integration, Ledger, contained availability groups and Parameter Sensitive Plan optimization (what’s new in 2022).

SQL Server 2025 adds a native vector type and vector functions, Fabric mirroring and optimized locking (what’s new in 2025). It also changes the editions: how, and what that means for your licenses, is in the SQL Server 2025 licensing guide and the SQL Server 2022 vs 2025 comparison.

Why the version belongs in the license position

The version you run decides whether it still gets security updates, and whether your licenses cover it. New version rights come with Software Assurance or a subscription: a 2019 license whose SA lapsed does not become a 2025 license. Per Core licensing has required at least four core licenses per physical processor for years, not the 16 per server of Windows Server; the worked examples are in the SQL Server 2022 and 2025 licensing guides. If the same servers run System Center, its rules are in the System Center 2025 licensing guide.

What to have this week

1. Every instance with its version, build and edition, read from the instance, not from a CMDB field. Developer and Express kept apart from production.
2. Support status against the table above. 2016 and older are past extended support; 2017 follows on 12 October 2027.
3. Whether SA or a subscription covers each license. It decides upgrade rights to 2025 and access to ESUs.
4. The operating system under each instance, with its own support dates.

LICENSEWARE’s Microsoft Deployment Manager builds this from your inventory data, with the SQL Server and Windows Server license requirement per host.

Questions

What is the latest version of SQL Server?

SQL Server 2025, version 17.x, generally available since 18 November 2025. Its RTM build is 17.0.1000.7. How it is licensed is in the SQL Server 2025 licensing guide.

When does SQL Server 2025 support end?

Mainstream support ends on 6 January 2031 and extended support on 6 January 2036, under Microsoft’s Fixed Lifecycle Policy.

When does SQL Server 2022 support end?

Mainstream support ends on 11 January 2028 and extended support on 11 January 2033. SQL Server 2022 is version 16.x; its RTM build is 16.0.1000.6.

When does SQL Server 2019 support end?

Mainstream support ended on 28 February 2025. Extended support, with security updates only, ends on 8 January 2030.

Is SQL Server 2016 still supported?

No. Extended support ended on 14 July 2026. Security updates after that date come only through a paid Extended Security Updates subscription, available in yearly terms into July 2029.

How do I find which SQL Server version I have?

Run SELECT @@VERSION; or SELECT SERVERPROPERTY('ProductVersion'); on the instance. The first number of the version is the release: 17 for 2025, 16 for 2022, 15 for 2019, 14 for 2017, 13 for 2016.

Sources

• Latest updates and version history for SQL Server (RTM builds 2000 to 2025, RTM build dates): https://support.microsoft.com/servicing/sql/kb321185-download-and-install-latest-updates
• Lifecycle, SQL Server 2025: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/sql-server-2025
• Lifecycle, SQL Server 2022: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/sql-server-2022
• Lifecycle, SQL Server 2019 (Big Data Clusters retired 28 February 2025): https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/sql-server-2019
• Lifecycle, SQL Server 2017 (no service packs): https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/sql-server-2017
• Lifecycle, SQL Server 2016 (with ESU years): https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/sql-server-2016
• Lifecycle, SQL Server 2014 (with ESU years): https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/sql-server-2014
• Lifecycle, SQL Server 2012 (with ESU years): https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/microsoft-sql-server-2012
• Lifecycle, SQL Server 2008 R2: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/microsoft-sql-server-2008-r2
• Lifecycle, SQL Server 2008: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/microsoft-sql-server-2008
• Lifecycle, SQL Server 2005: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/microsoft-sql-server-2005
• SQL Release Services, end of mainstream support for SQL Server 2000 SP4 (8 April 2008, extended to 9 April 2013): https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/archive/blogs/sqlreleaseservices/end-of-mainstream-support-for-sql-server-2005-sp1-and-sql-server-2000-sp4
• SQL Server engineering history (Sybase partnership, 1.0 to 7.0, 2000 in August 2000, 2005): https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/archive/blogs/euanga/sql-mythbusters-sql-server-is-really-a-sybase-product-not-a-microsoft-one
• SERVERPROPERTY (ProductVersion, ProductMajorVersion, ProductLevel, ProductUpdateLevel, Edition; @@VERSION): https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/t-sql/functions/serverproperty-transact-sql
• SQL Server end of support options (ESU terms, SA or subscription required): https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/sql-server/end-of-support/sql-server-end-of-support-overview
• What’s new in columnstore indexes: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/relational-databases/indexes/columnstore-indexes-what-s-new
• What’s new in SQL Server 2017: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/sql-server/what-s-new-in-sql-server-2017
• What’s new in SQL Server 2019: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/sql-server/what-s-new-in-sql-server-2019
• What’s new in SQL Server 2022: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/sql-server/what-s-new-in-sql-server-2022
• What’s new in SQL Server 2025: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/sql-server/what-s-new-in-sql-server-2025