MCTS 70-433 implicit transaction and default behaviour

Coming from an oracle background, I'm used to having explicitly commit my transactions as the default behaviour in the database, in SQL Server this is not always the default:

After implicit transaction mode has been set on for a connection, SQL Server automatically starts a transaction when it first executes any of these statements:

ALTER TABLE	INSERT
CREATE	OPEN
DELETE	REVOKE
DROP	SELECT
FETCH	TRUNCATE TABLE
GRANT	UPDATE

The transaction remains in effect until you issue a COMMIT or ROLLBACK statement...

Implicit transaction mode is set either using the Transact-SQL SET statement, or through database API functions and methods.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa213064(SQL.80).aspx

The API mechanisms used to set implicit transactions are ODBC and OLE DB.

ODBC

• Call the SQLSetConnectAttr function with Attribute set to SQL_ATTR_AUTOCOMMIT and ValuePtr set to SQL_AUTOCOMMIT_OFF to start implicit transaction mode.
  
• The connection remains in implicit transaction mode until you call SQLSetConnectAttr with Attribute set to SQL_ATTR_AUTOCOMMIT and ValuePtr set to SQL_AUTOCOMMIT_ON.
  
• Call the SQLEndTran function with CompletionType set to either SQL_COMMIT or SQL_ROLLBACK to commit or roll back each transaction.
  
• When SQL_AUTOCOMMIT_OFF is set by an ODBC application, the Microsoft® SQL Server™ ODBC driver issues a SET IMPLICIT_TRANSACTION ON statement

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa213067(SQL.80).aspx