Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Express is a powerful and reliable free data management system that delivers a rich and reliable data store.
Microsoft® SQL Server® 2012 Express is a powerful and reliable free data management system that delivers a rich and reliable data store for lightweight Web Sites and desktop applications.
Microsoft SQL Server 2012 with SP3 is a free, feature-rich edition of SQL Server that is ideal for learning, developing, powering desktop, web & small server applications, and for redistribution by ISVs. The SQL Server 2012 SP3 Express release includes the full version of SQL Server 2012 Management Studio with SP3 instead of SQL Server 2012 Management Studio Express. For a complete list of supported features in SQL Server Management Studio, see Features in SQL Server Management Studio.
Microsoft SQL Server 2012 reached its end of life on July 12, 2022. After this date, the product no longer receives security updates, non-security updates, bug fixes, or technical support.
SQL Server 2012 is supported only on Windows 7 SP1 or Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1. However, Setup does not block installing SQL Server 2012 on Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2.