Since its release in early 2002, the Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2000 Driver for JDBC™ has been very well received by the Java developer communityand Service Pack 3 addresses issues discovered since the release of Service Pack 2. Enhancements added to this driver since its original release include: support for connecting to an instance of SQL Server in a multiple instance environment using just the instance name, making hostname a connection attribute, improved performance, and support for the 64-bit edition of SQL Server 2000.

The Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2000 Driver for JDBC™ is a Type 4 JDBC driver that provides highly scalable and reliable connectivity for the enterprise Java environment. This driver provides JDBC access to SQL Server 2000, both 32 bit and 64 bit editions, through any Java-enabled applet, application, or application server.

Java developers can now enjoy the richness and robustness of SQL Server 2000 using this driver, which delivers high-performance point-to-point and n-tier access to SQL Server 2000 across the Internet and intranets.

Supported Operating Systems: HP-UX; IBM AIX; Linux; Solaris; Windows 2000 Service Pack 2; Windows 2000 Service Pack 3; Windows 2000 Service Pack 4; Windows Server 2003; Windows XP
The following versions of SQL Server will be supported for use with the SQL Server 2000 Driver for JDBC SP2:
· SQL Server 2000 Standard and Enterprise Editions*
· SQL Server 2000 Standard and Enterprise Editions with Service Pack 1 or higher*
· SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition (64-bit)*

* Service Pack 3a is strongly recommended

The following versions of the JDK will be supported for use with the SQL Server 2000 Driver for JDBC:
· JDK 1.1.8
· JDK 1.2
· JDK 1.3
· JDK 1.4