Very common problem, very simple query in MySQL, but no so much in Microsoft SQL

Question

The object is to get the top activity that takes too much time per activity:

In mysql it should be easy:

select description, reference, person, max(minutes)
group by description

Result should bring back:

Description	Reference	Person	Minutes
Activity A	AA32343	Abe	10
Activity B	BB34345	Boris	8
Activity C	CCsdeee	John	12

But in Microsoft SQL, it wont run, 'cause the group by does not have all the columns in the select...

What is the equivalent to the mysql query in MS SQL? If i add all the columns i need in the group by, i will get all the rows, which is not what i want

This is a very common problem, can someone find the answer and post the query and explain it in a way that the answer can be applied to almost all similar problems?

Rows in table have info like:

Description	Reference	Person	Minutes
Activity A	AA32343	Abe	10
Activity A	AA77340	Wilson	9
Activity A	AA56341	Carl	4
Activity B	BB34345	Boris	8
Activity B	BB94342	Jane	6
Activity B	BB64343	Martha	3
Activity C	CCsdeee	John	12
Activity C	CCs5ee4	Peter	10
Activity C	CCskee5	Saul	4

Answer 1

Use row_number():

select * from (select description, reference, person, minutes,
row_number() over(partition by description order by minutes desc) rn from table_name
) a where rn=1