In this year's first episode of the new year, Guy and Eitan discuss the new Next-gen General Purpose tier of Azure SQL Managed Instance, which is now GA. They also discuss a few interesting customer stories, how they were resolved, and how they're not actually SQL Server's fault.

Relevant links:

• Generally Available: Azure SQL Managed Instance Next-gen General Purpose | Microsoft Community Hub
• The Bitmap Index query plan operator
• SQL Server on VMware best practices guide
• How to Save Money on Your SQL Server Hardware

Matan Yungman is our special host for today, who came especially to talk about his special project called "Rapido", which is capable of automatically tuning SQL queries at scale.

Perhaps there is some inspiration in it for us?

Relevant links:

• Matan Yungman | LinkedIn
• Matan Yungman (@MatanYungman) / X
• SQL Server 2025 is Now Generally Available | Microsoft Community Hub
• Intelligent Query Processing - SQL Server | Microsoft Learn

Guy and Eitan talk about the new preview version of SSMS, application locks, and stupid troubles with TempDB shrinkage.

Relevant links:

• Announcing the Release of SQL Server Management Studio 22 Preview 3 | Microsoft Community Hub
• Release Notes for SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) 22 Preview 3
• Get Started - GitHub Copilot in SQL Server Management Studio (Preview) | Microsoft Learn
• Overview of the Query Hint Recommendation Tool (Preview) - SQL Server Management Studio | Microsoft Learn
• Announcing the Release of SSMS 22 Preview 4 | Microsoft Community Hub
• sp_getapplock (Transact-SQL) - SQL Server | Microsoft Learn
• microsoft-dbas-club/Utility Scripts/Shrink_Database_File_in_Specified_Increments.sql
• microsoft-dbas-club/TempDB/TempDB_Sizing_Check_and_Remediation.sql
• microsoft-dbas-club/TempDB/TempDB Space Utilization Check.sql