Glenn Berry takes us through the latest edition of SQL Server Management Studio:
One big change with SSMS 18.7 is described by Microsoft this way:
“Beginning with SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) 18.7, Azure Data Studio is automatically installed alongside SSMS. Users of SQL Server Management Studio are now able to benefit from the innovations and features in Azure Data Studio. Azure Data Studio is a cross-platform and open-source desktop tool for your environments, whether in the cloud, on-premises, or hybrid.“
So far, this has been a pretty controversial change. Erik Darling created a User Voice suggestion on October 20th that has already gotten over 234 votes, and many comments.
I’m not going to weigh in too much here, though I would prefer this to be an optional installation. Do watch out for an annoyance, though, if you have Azure Data Studio installed as a User instead of System.