I have Visual Studio 2008 Standard version and SQL Sever 2008 installed. I'm OK with VS but I have almost no experience with SQL. Now I'm wondering if it's a good idea to have SQL Server 2008 installed? ... What's the difference between SQL Server 2008 and MySQL?
May be of your interest http://www.postgresonline.com/journ...are-of-SQL-Server,-MySQL,-and-PostgreSQL.html
Do you have experience with either database? Generally MSSQL is a little easier to learn than MySQL because it comes with better GUI tools out of the box. But, MySQL support and documentation is significantly better than MSSQL. As far as command line programming goes they are about the same. Syntax is a little different, but if you know one, you can understand the other. MSSQL is far superior in replication, but this probably isn't a concern for basic needs. I wouldn't say that either is simply better, but both are better in some situations. Both work well on windows, MSSQL doesn't work on anything but Windows. MySQL works on just about anything. Since you are using VS, I'm assuming that you are developing windows apps. If this is the case MSSQL may become restrictive if your apps become database intensive, and the paid MSSQL versions are very expensive. MySQL can scale quite a bit higher than the free and basic MSSQL versions and is free. If you can describe a little more what you are developing it would help to point you in the right direction.