SQL Server 2008 includes 7 new data types. Presently, I’m embroiled in a Business Intelligence application that makes heavy use of Date and Time values. SQL Server 2005 is quite inflexible in this regard, because it was released after .NET 2.0 and failed to include the new Date and Time features. These new data types also resolve issues pertaining to the global nature of applications over the Internet. In layman’s terms, Microsoft in particular are investing heavily in Software as a Service (SaaS). If your application will be exposed over the Internet, with Rich Internet Application (RIA) frameworks like Microsoft Silverlight, then new features like this become necessities, especially across time zones.

Luckily this has now been addressed, and we have fields that offer far greater precision – essential for BI – and a separation of concerns. I have trawled through the Internet trying to find information, but most articles hitherto appear derived from this comprehensive technet article.