At work we recently upgraded from Microsoft SQL Server 7 to SQL 2005. The database engine is a lot more advanced, but the management studio is pretty awful in a number of ways. Most of our developers decided they preferred to stick with the old Query Analyzer tool, even though it had a lot of limitations.
In my spare time, I decided to write a replacement for Query Analyzer / Management Studio that did the things our developers most needed to do. I finally got permission to release it for free: Versabanq Squel (versabanq.com/squel).
Like I said, it’s free, so this isn’t a sales pitch. But it got me thinking. What I’m wondering is: are most of you satisfied with SQL Studio the way it is? Do people just use it because it’s what Microsoft pushes on them? Are there many people out there looking for something better? Maybe I can get some support for long-term development of this, if it looks like there might be some wider interest.
By the way, check out SQL Server Management Studio Alternatives, someone else’s earlier question on this topic. What I see there is that there are surprisingly few options. Why do you think that is?
While I would love something better, it would have to be significantly better and free. SMS is definetly a hog but I’ve gotten used to it. What I miss the most is Query Analyzer. I don’t mind using SSMS to manage the server but having a fast lightweight, editor for SQL queries would be awsome…
Did I mention free? Not something I’m willing to pay for right now.
EDIT
FYI I downloaded your tool looks neat but you need to add support for Windows Authentications unless I am just missing how its done.