We care, we listen, and we want to serve you better! It's been too long since I asked readers for comprehensive feedback about how you think we're doing here at SQL Server Magazine UPDATE. This week, I'd like to gather some basic technical information about you, your SQL Server deployments, and what you like or don't like about SQL Server Magazine UPDATE.
I know you're busy, but we'd appreciate you taking a few minutes to help us better serve your needs. Feel free to answer as few or as many questions as you like or to send me information that I didn't think to ask about. Email your answers directly to me at [email protected].
- Tell me about you and your environment. What is your role? How long have you been working with SQL Server or another relational database management system (RDBMS)? Which versions of SQL Server are you running, and what databases do you work with in addition to SQL Server? If you're running SQL Server 7.0 or earlier, do you plan to upgrade to SQL Server 2000? Are you running SQL Server on Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000, or Windows NT? What level of experience do you have with SQL Server—do you consider yourself a novice, a knowledgeable veteran, or an expert? Do you regularly use Analysis Services, full-text indexing in SQL Server, or SQL Server 2000's integrated support for XML? What are your favorite SQL Server-related third-party products and why do you like them? What technical conferences do you attend regularly? Do you belong to a local SQL Server users group?
- Tell me about SQL Server. What are your five favorite SQL Server features? What are five new features that you'd like to see in the next version? What are your five least favorite SQL Server 2000 behaviors? How big is your largest database (in number of rows or total disk space)? What is the peak number of transactions per second that your database handles?
- Tell me about SQL Server Magazine UPDATE. What do you like best about SQL Server Magazine UPDATE? What do you like least about SQL Server Magazine UPDATE? What type of content do you prefer in SQL Server Magazine UPDATE: how-to, tutorial, opinion, or another kind of information? Can you remember a particular SQL Server Magazine UPDATE commentary that you enjoyed—or one that wasn't quite up to par? Do you prefer that complete articles appear in the text of the newsletter, or would you rather have hyperlinks to online articles?
Let us know if we've forgotten to ask anything that you feel is important so that we can include those questions in our next reader poll. And thank you for your feedback. We'll listen and we'll use your comments. We want to make SQL Server Magazine UPDATE the best newsletter it can be.
P.S. Last week SQL Server Magazine UPDATE included a news item about a free Yukon seminar that Microsoft is offering during the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles on October 28. Microsoft will provide free pizza and other refreshments. Attendees will get to meet SQL Server Product Unit Manager Euan Garden and other members of the SQL Server Development team and learn about the next SQL Server release, Yukon. The presenters need to estimate how many people will attend this event. Please register for the event online at http://www.sswug.org/eventinterest.asp.
