At the Professional Association of SQL Server conference in Seattle, he also said that Microsoft is working to improve SQL Server in areas of continuous availability, data mining and data synchronization and its handling of multimedia data. "We need to move beyond relational and go from words and numbers to sights and sounds," said Flessner, Microsoft's senior vice president of data and storage platforms.

Flessner, who is stepping down to a part-time role Jan. 1 after leading SQL Server's development starting in 1996 with Version 7.0, said that many of those features will be included in the next release of SQL Server, code-named Katmai, which he promised will arrive by 2008. "We've learned to develop in ways that isolate dependencies earlier and get cross-functional teams together earlier in the process. We are committed to two-to-three-year development cycles," he said.

Donald Feinberg, an analyst at Gartner Inc., said Microsoft is entering a new era in SQL Server's development.

"They've spent the last 10 years getting the functionality of the database to where they can really compete with Oracle and IBM. Now they can worry about functionality that can move them ahead," he said. Microsoft is attacking nascent areas such as the management of distributed data with more gusto than IBM or Oracle Corp., Feinberg noted. Developing SQL Server 2005 -- a five-year effort drawn out by the company's efforts to improve the database's security after the Slammer worm hit in 2003 -- was a "lesson learned" for Microsoft, according to Flessner.

However, SQL Server 2005, released in October of last year, appears to be a financial success for Microsoft, with SQL Server-related revenue up 35 percent year over year.