The character set and sort order choices you make during installation determine the types of characters that SQL Server recognizes in your database data, the order in which SQL Server sorts data in response to queries, and the results that SQL Server returns for queries that involve character comparisons.
Carefully consider the options before installing character sets and sort orders. Changing these options after installation requires you to rebuild your databases and reload your data.
For information on character sets and sort orders, choose one of the following topics:
Note Additional character sets and sort orders are being developed for international users and may be included in those listed by the setup program.