In November we announced the release of SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) 21 Preview 1, and last week we released Preview 2. If you’re wondering if you missed a blog post, you didn’t. We like to keep you guessing! In truth – we don’t post for every release, and with update notifications that are now available in SSMS 21, we're not certain we need to write a blog post every time there’s an update.
Update notifications
If you haven’t downloaded SSMS 21 yet, then you probably haven’t seen this notification that appears when there’s an update:
*Note: That says Visual Studio 2022 update and we want it to say SSMS 21 update...we have a work item for that.
If you select View details, the Visual Studio Installer launches and shares details about the update:
You can see that I have Preview 2.0 installed, and the update version is 2.1. There’s also a link to the release notes, in case you want to review those before you install the update.
Updating SSMS
Why are we going into so much detail about an update? Stick with us.
First, this is a whole new experience for users of SSMS. While it’s something folks have been asking for, that doesn’t mean it’s comfortable for everyone. Second, this is a great opportunity to talk about what changes when SSMS updates. If you’re reading the release notes (as we know you all take the time to do), then you won’t be surprised to learn that updates to SSMS occur because of changes in SSMS, or Visual Studio, or both.
One of the key components of SSMS 21 is Visual Studio 2022. As a Visual Studio-based solution, SSMS leverages the same architecture and file dependencies. This integration allows SSMS to provide a better overall user experience. It also means that any updates or changes to Visual Studio files necessitate corresponding updates to SSMS, even if there are no direct changes to SSMS files themselves.
Every time we release SSMS, the release notes will document if there is an update to Visual Studio. If you have the same version of Visual Studio installed, you’ll see parity. For example, SSMS 21 Preview 1 released with Visual Studio 17.13 Preview 1. SSMS 21 Preview 2 released with Visual Studio 17.13 Preview 2. For both of those releases, there were changes to both Visual Studio files and SSMS files.
SSMS 21 Preview 2.1
Today, we released SSMS 21 Preview 2.1 and Visual Studio released 17.13 Preview 2.1. There are no other changes for SSMS – nothing the SSMS team updated for this release. The interconnected nature of SSMS and Visual Studio means that maintaining compatibility and performance requires the latest Visual Studio updates. When Visual Studio undergoes changes - whether they are bug fixes, performance enhancements, or feature additions - SSMS must also be updated to ensure it continues to function seamlessly. This proactive approach helps prevent potential issues that could arise from mismatched versions or dependencies, ultimately safeguarding the stability and reliability of SSMS.
We learn something new every day
As we’re still in preview, this also helped us discover a version issue we need to resolve. It’s documented in the known issues, but in case you want to help others understand: the SSMS version (21.0.73) did not change between Preview 2 and Preview 2.1. Within the Visual Studio Installer, the version shows as you would expect, but in Help > About, it still says Preview 2.0. Apologies in advance for any confusion, it will be fixed.
If you have Preview 2 installed and you don’t see a notification that you can update to Preview 2.1, you can always to Help > Check for Updates, or launch the Visual Studio installer which automatically checks for updates.
Final thoughts
We encourage folks to apply updates when they are available, and we hope you all are enjoying SSMS 21. Thank you to those who have submitted feedback on the site! Your feedback is invaluable as we work through previews and continue to improve SSMS. Thank you for your continued support, and we hope everyone has a great holiday. See you in 2025!
Microsoft
