For those with a keen eye you will have noticed that the information surrounding SQL Server Everywhere (SQL/e) indicates that it is only supported for WinXP and above (ie no support for Win2K). Back when it was SQL Mobile (SQL/m) there was support for Win2K, but the licensing prevented it from running on anywhing less than Tablet XP. Most developers wouldn’t need to worry about lack of support for Win2K. However, if your target market is large enterprise (eg >1000 employees) there is a strong possibility that they still have large deployments of Win2K. You might go in there with a revolutionary product, but if they have to upgrade 1000+ desktops just to use it, it is going to be a very difficult (if not impossible) sell.
So, why the restriction? Well as the product team will no doubt attest it has nothing to do with whether it will run on Win2K or not. In fact in all likelyhood it will run without any issues. Further if there are issues, they are likely to be issues that pertain to WinXP as well, so would most likely be fixed anyhow. The decision to “support” Win2K comes down to testing and support resources. Although SQL/e is a relative small increment from SQL/m, to extend support from Tablet XP to both Win2K and WinXP is a significant investment in resources. This is especially true in light of the fact that SQL/e is FREE!
Ok, so now some good news. Over the last couple of days MS had a number of internal discussions and have indicated that they are going to support Win2K. Although this is not an official announcement, you will most likely see a post in the next day or so to this effect on the SQL Everywhere Blog.