The current iteration, MSOLEDBSQL, was reintroduced by Microsoft after a brief period where they attempted to move entirely toward ODBC. Due to significant community demand and the technical requirements of enterprise-level applications, Microsoft released this standalone driver to provide continued support for OLE DB features while ensuring compatibility with modern security standards like TLS 1.2 and Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). Key Features and Capabilities
| Driver Name | Provider String | Status | Primary Use Case | | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | | (Legacy) | SQLOLEDB | Deprecated / Out of support | Legacy systems (SQL Server 2000 era) | | SQL Server Native Client (SQLNCLI) | SQLNCLI11 | Deprecated (as of 2012) | Bridge between legacy and modern | | Microsoft OLE DB Driver for SQL Server (MSOLEDBSQL) | MSOLEDBSQL | Active & Supported | New OLE DB development for SQL Server 2012+ |
There are three major generations of OLE DB drivers from Microsoft:
MSOLEDBSQL (latest version as of 2025 is typically 19.x).
The current iteration, MSOLEDBSQL, was reintroduced by Microsoft after a brief period where they attempted to move entirely toward ODBC. Due to significant community demand and the technical requirements of enterprise-level applications, Microsoft released this standalone driver to provide continued support for OLE DB features while ensuring compatibility with modern security standards like TLS 1.2 and Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). Key Features and Capabilities
| Driver Name | Provider String | Status | Primary Use Case | | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | | (Legacy) | SQLOLEDB | Deprecated / Out of support | Legacy systems (SQL Server 2000 era) | | SQL Server Native Client (SQLNCLI) | SQLNCLI11 | Deprecated (as of 2012) | Bridge between legacy and modern | | Microsoft OLE DB Driver for SQL Server (MSOLEDBSQL) | MSOLEDBSQL | Active & Supported | New OLE DB development for SQL Server 2012+ |
There are three major generations of OLE DB drivers from Microsoft:
MSOLEDBSQL (latest version as of 2025 is typically 19.x).