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Azure SQL Database
An Azure relational database service.
Azure SQL Managed Instance with the SQL Server 2025 update policy is not equivalent to SQL Server 2022. The policy aligns its internal database format and engine features with SQL Server 2025. Running older databases reflects backward compatibility; it does not prove that an application certified only for SQL Server 2017–2022 is vendor-supported.
For production, choose the SQL Server 2022 update policy—the default—unless the vendor explicitly certifies the 2025 policy. Migrate a copy, retain database compatibility level 160 if the application expects SQL Server 2022 query-processing behavior, and run regression, upgrade, and performance tests.
Compatibility level 160 controls T-SQL and query-processing behavior; it does not turn a 2025-policy Managed Instance into SQL Server 2022. Changing from the 2025 policy back to 2022 is unsupported because the internal-format upgrade is permanent. If the instance is already on 2025, create a separate 2022-policy instance and migrate there when vendor support is required.