I am currently working in an environment that has 4 versions for sql server 2005, 2008, 2008r2, 2014. (yes 2005 is going in 2 weeks)
Each server that I have touched has had a specific version of visual studio matching closely to the sql server version loaded for working on ssis packages.
When I try to mod object on 2008 or r2 with the ssms 2014, I sometimes get warnings about saving objects or jobs in a different version.
One server has crashed while I was cleaning up its ssis package mess. And I am looking into the cause, but even if I fix that, I am a little leery about developing directly on and App/SQL/File server.
Can I \ should I load all of these different versions of ssms and/or Visual Studio on my single laptop for dba/dbd work?
Or Should I make virtualbox vm's for each environment? if so, will i need a windows license for each...