Database 2012

This sounds like a classroom question, so I'm not going to answer it, but I will give you a link showing the capabilities of the different editions of SQL Server 2012.

It was asked in an interview

Where do I start in that link :(

You need this -

In Enterprise edition of SQL SERVER 2012 we can do Partitioning for both - Tables as well as indexes. This is one of the very important feature.

The link Paul posted will give you the information you require on the differences between standard and enterprise editions, I will give you a hint, look in the High availability table and compare the two.  Now think about what a company requires of IT, and see if any of that matches what the enterprise edition provides :)

Good luck with your interview

Adding to my previous comment.

"In Enterprise edition of SQL SERVER 2012 we can do Partitioning for both - Tables as well as indexes. This is one of the very important feature."

Note - This affect tables and very important in terms of performance.

If you want to know from interview purpose then everything is useful in that link.. you need to read it thoroughly. so that you can compare all editions for your next interview. :-)

This is the answer they was looking for

The answer is you can NOT create or rebuild an index ONLINE.
what this means is that the table that is being indexed will be LOCKED hence applications/users will get timed out.
Any half decent DBA should know this as its one hell of an important thing.
Its the difference betwwen rebuilding an index at 2pm or 2am.

@Author -

This is a very generalized question so we cannot pinpoint that this is the answer.  We cannot read the interviewer's mind. :)

IMHO that's a weak question for an interview as it can lead to multiple answers.
A good question should be:
"You're working with a Standard Edition instance and cannot upgrade it to an Enterprise Edition. How can you minimize the impact of not being possible to execute ONLINE reindexes?"

Sounds like a Trivial Pursuit style interview.  Did he ask how many dimples are on a golf ball, or how many ping pong balls can fit in an airplane?