The SQL Tools team is pleased to announce the upcoming release of SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) 21 Preview 1, and the upcoming Private Preview of Copilot in SSMS.
SSMS 21 is a modernized version of the tool that millions of SQL data professionals use every day. This starts with SSMS moving from reliance on the deprecated Visual Studio 2015 Shell to being a Visual Studio 2022 based solution with 64-bit support. Moving to the latest version of Visual Studio means that SSMS picks up new functionality within the Query Editor, such as support for vertical tabs and their sort order, and customization of the cell and font colors for NULL values in the results grid. It also means that SSMS 21 will be installed using the Visual Studio Installer which brings support for automatic updates, command line installs, and more.
Long-time SSMS users will be thrilled to see the return of Git integration in SSMS 21 Preview 1, which sets the stage for eventual support of SQL Projects in SSMS. Further, many of you will be happy to see the initial stages of support for dark theme. Yes, you read that correctly! We are bringing proper support for dark theme to SQL Server Management Studio in a phased approach. While we cannot pause all work for SSMS to exclusively focus on implementing dark theme support for every SSMS dialog, we can concurrently work on updates to dialogs, starting with those accessed most frequently and systematically moving throughout the UI.
In addition to new features and functionality, Preview 1 has improvements to Always Encrypted, explained in more detail in Pieter’s post, and we’ve also added a new page that lists the Database Scoped Configuration settings in the database properties dialog.
SSMS 21 Preview 1 also includes a resolution for folks that use Central Management Servers and had challenges with the enhanced security options – you can now save the Trust Server Certificate option in your CMS connections.
On the extension front, SSMS 21 will have support equivalent to what exists in the current release of SSMS 20. Specifically, third-party extensions can be created and used with SSMS 21. Full support for extensions, including the ability to browse extensions from within SSMS, presence in the Visual Studio marketplace, and support of the VSIXInstaller is on our roadmap and we will share details when appropriate.
Previous releases of SSMS have had at least one preview, if not two or three. Users can expect multiple previews for SSMS 21, with regular frequency. A regular preview cadence allows us to work on implementation of new features such as support for creating Azure logins and users through the UI (not simply via T-SQL) and an improved Azure Authentication experience. Additional features will be available in subsequent previews, including improvements to startup time, a new connection experience, consolidated settings, and Copilot in SSMS.
Copilot in SSMS will start with a chat for the Query Editor, leveraging both connection and database context to answer your general SQL questions and help you write T-SQL based on natural language prompts. For NLtoSQL prompts, Copilot queries the database metadata to provide context about the tables and views in your database, and it can also assist with fixing and explaining T-SQL queries.
We are at the beginning of our journey with Copilot in SSMS, and we plan to follow up the Query Editor chat with inline support for NLtoSQL directly in the editor window. Subsequent areas of focus will be based on your feedback – we want to know the areas of SQL you need help with, and the most critical problems you want Copilot to solve. We will launch the Private Preview for Copilot in SSMS within the next month. If you would like to take part and have an early hands-on experience with this new capability, please use this link to indicate your interest: https://aka.ms/ssmsinterest.
We are extremely excited about the upcoming release of SSMS 21 Preview 1! Thank you for your patience as we have endeavored to take on the task of rebuilding SSMS from the ground up. The opportunity to download the first preview will soon be available, stay tuned for the official announcement.
Microsoft
