SQL Server 2008 SSMS Enhancements - Part I

I have just installed SQL Server 2008 RC0 and had been playing a bit with the new Management Studio. I found a few interesting features. I will try to cover some of those features in this post.

The new cool splash screen SQL Server 2008 has got an all new logo and splash screen.

Activity Monitor
The next feature that attracted me is the new "Activity Monitor".

It opens a window that displays the server activities.

What I found most useful is the section that shows "Recent Expensive Queries". One of the tasks that I do quite often is the optimization of "bad" queries or even "well written" queries that does not perform well enough. This panel of the activity monitor seems to be a good tool which readily shows me the stuff that I need to work on.
Missing Index hints in Graphical Execution Plan
Another change that I noticed instantly is the addition of Missing Index Hints in the query execution plan.

You could right click on the index hint and it will show a context menu that will take you to the details of the missing index.