ms-sql -> pg 8.x

Hello,
It seems that very shortly I will have to extract some data from ms-sql server and load it into postgres.
It seems that the ms-sql is getting bigger with increasingly more users and performance is getting worse n worse.
And a local copy of data is required for and application that needs pull lots of small bits of data back quickly complex queries tho, currently embedded in views. And if the data is no older than 24 hours that is OK.

Although I am pretty useful with sql on Oracle and mysql this is a bit outside my comfort zone.
Could someone provide a few pointers on how to go about this and what the issues might be?
The first isssue that occurs to me is that CP1252 is used throughout the data and there is a lot of european special characters, e acute for example. But the column names etc are regular chars [a-zA-Z].

All links and hints gratefully received!

Syd

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