| Tool | Use Case | Platform | |------|----------|----------| | | Legacy support & older Windows environments | Windows only | | SSMS 18/19 | Current SSMS line with ongoing updates | Windows only | | Azure Data Studio | Lightweight cross-platform editor (macOS, Linux, Windows) | Cross-platform | | Visual Studio Code + mssql | Developer-focused T-SQL editing | Cross-platform |
| Component | Minimum Requirement | |-----------|---------------------| | | Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Windows Server 2012 R2 or later (64-bit) | | Processor | 1.4 GHz (x64) | | Memory | 4 GB (8+ recommended) | | Hard Disk | 6 GB available space | | .NET Framework | 4.6.2 or later | | Supported SQL Versions | SQL Server 2008 – 2017, Azure SQL DB, Parallel Data Warehouse | microsoft sql server management studio 2017
SSMS 2017 is the "Goldilocks" release. It is the first version that feels truly modern while retaining the deep administrative capabilities (like the Maintenance Plan wizard and Activity Monitor) that third-party tools often lack. | Tool | Use Case | Platform |
It provides full management capabilities for Azure SQL Database and SQL Server on Linux, allowing users to manage diverse environments from a single Windows-based interface. Azure SQL DB