Five things SQL Server needs to drop (meme)

Paul Randal (blog | twitter) started it all yesterday, with a posting stating the Five Things he would like to see disappear from SQL Server. It's going around the block, and looks like I'll chime in this time. So, here are two of mine and some mentions from others.

UPDATE: I want to add in here REMOVE 'sa' login. Yep. I said it. I'm sure many will agree. Real DBAs don't need or use 'sa' anyway. All it really does is serve as a back door for a bunch of poorly written applications.

Licensing Model
Why do we need so many options for SQL Server? Standard won't give you some really needed things only found in Enterprise or (gasp!) the new Datacenter options, but maybe you need ONE of those things. It's cost-prohibitive for small to medium sized companies who could really use some features. Why not make it all a la carte?

Security Model
Oh, it's robust. Don't get me wrong. Have you ever had to track down a security issue when someone had decided that assigning object level permissions was a good idea? Then, come to find out the members of one group overlapped those of another group? It needs to read more clearly who has permissions to do what. The "Effective Permissions" button on the database properties "permissions" tab is almost the most useless thing in there. Between groups and users and roles and schemas, again, there are too many choices. Of course, DBAs should understand what they are implementing before choosing a security model, but that's another blog post.

The rest have all been said - some more than once, but a few of my favorites:

Default Settings
If you have done more than two SQL Server installs, you know how poorly the default settings are defined. So many violate best practices, why not change them? Maybe it's just a way to separate the Beginner from the Experienced DBA's?

Throwing in with Buck Woody (blog | twitter) - Management Studio
Yes, it's a tool, but we have way too many for the Admin needs surrounding the product. Why do we need SSMS, Configuration Manager, BIDS, Event Viewer, MMC...should I continue? If we have to use a Management Tool, make it all accessible from a single point of entry. Our time is valuable, you know.

Honorable mentions - GUIDs and TIMESTAMP data types

I think almost everyone has been tagged already, so if you want to chime in, consider yourself tagged!
Thanks for tagging me again, Ted Krueger (blog | twitter)