If your one of the cools kids and have a Mac (sorry windows guys) and you need to connect your development environment to a MSSQL server it's really easy. There are lots of guides out there on connecting ColdFusion to MSSQL but if your connecting from OS X server to Windows server there are 2 settings you need to check.
First once you log in to your development server under Object Explorer right click on the server name and click Properties. Under Security make sure "SQL Server and Windows authentication mode" is checked. Next click Connections and make sure "Allow remote connections to this server". If you setup you users and DB correctly you should be able to connect.
Two times this year I have wiped windows box and 2 times I wasted hours connecting to MSSQL from my iMac. I'm going to be adding more tips to help me and anyone else in the future.
