SQL Server 2016 and Azure SQL Database implement a new feature called Temporal Tables, not to be confused with Temporary Tables. This feature implements in a common sense fashion the needs of database applications to maintain a history of changes not just for auditing but for the purpose of analytics.

Temporal Tables allow a user to leverage the FOR SYSTEM_TIME clause when querying a table which was created with the SYSTEM_VERSIONING = ON. Users can also query the temporal history table directly, which is necessary for history values with a duration of zero (e.g. rows updated multiple times in a single transaction).