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Report Builder and BIDS (the Visual Studio add-in for creating Reporting Services reports) are essentially the same underneath their very different looking skins. This blog lists the small number of differences.
- Report Builder vs. Reporting Services - Differences
- Report Builder Difference 1 - Look and Feel (this blog)
- Difference 2 - Report Builder 3.0 has more wizards
- Difference 3 - Creating Datasets in Report Builder
- Difference 4 - Expression Intellisense in Report Builder
- Difference 5 - Using Report Parts in Report Builder
- Other Differences for Report Builder
Posted by Andy Brown on 07 November 2011
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Report Builder Difference 1 - Look and Feel
Here's how you add a table to a report in BIDS (Visual Studio):

Click on the report item you want to add from the Toolbox.
Here, by contrast, is how you add a report item to a report in Report Builder:

In Report Builder 3.0 there is a ribbon: click on the item you want to add from the Insert menu.
Although the two applications look so different, exactly the same thing happens when you insert any report item, however.
- Report Builder vs. Reporting Services - Differences
- Report Builder Difference 1 - Look and Feel (this blog)
- Difference 2 - Report Builder 3.0 has more wizards
- Difference 3 - Creating Datasets in Report Builder
- Difference 4 - Expression Intellisense in Report Builder
- Difference 5 - Using Report Parts in Report Builder
- Other Differences for Report Builder