22-25 April 2026 
SSMS 21 Spotlight: What's new and why it matters, Part I
2025TL; DR
In this session we'll take a tour of SSMS 21 and new features including the new connection dialog and Git integration. We'll also share plans for SQL 2025.
Session Details
With the Preview 1 release of SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) 21 in November, the SQL Tools team made available the biggest set of updates to SSMS in recent memory, including numerous requests that customers have been waiting to see...for years in some cases.
In this session we'll show off what's new in SSMS 21, what's in progress, and what we have planned for SQL 2025. We'll start by walking through installation. Sounds easy, but there's a host of new options thanks to the Visual Studio installer, and we want to start you off on the right foot! With SSMS installed, you'll want to connect to a database using our new connection dialog - we'll take a tour through the experience and take feedback (we're always listening :)
In this session we'll show off what's new in SSMS 21, what's in progress, and what we have planned for SQL 2025. We'll start by walking through installation. Sounds easy, but there's a host of new options thanks to the Visual Studio installer, and we want to start you off on the right foot! With SSMS installed, you'll want to connect to a database using our new connection dialog - we'll take a tour through the experience and take feedback (we're always listening :)
3 things you'll get out of this session
Learn what is new in SSMS 21 and how to install it
Learn about the new connection experience
Learn about other new features in SSMS 21