In its continued commitment to interoperability, Microsoft released a new Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) driver with SQL Server 2005.
The SQL Server 2005 JDBC Driver download is available to all SQL Server users at no additional charge, and provides access to SQL Server 2000 and SQL Server 2005 from any Java application, application server, or Java-enabled applet. This is a Type 4 JDBC driver that provides database connectivity through the standard JDBC application program interfaces (APIs) available in J2EE (Java2 Enterprise Edition).
The SQL Server 2005 JDBC driver is JDBC 3.0 compliant and runs on the 1.4 JDK and higher. It has been tested against all major application servers including BEA WebLogic, IBM WebSphere, JBoss, and Sun. The new JDBC Driver is also freely redistributable for registered partners. -MSDN
What a great news for Java developers! Now you don’t have to rely on third party drivers.