Microsoft confirms SQL Server 2008 R2's May due date

Even though it was buried in a chart, I considered the May 2010 due date for SQL Server 2008 R2 to be "official."

But on January 19, Microsoft made it officially official. Microsoft is confirming that the latest version of its database will be out "by May" and will be on the May price list.

A new  posting on the Microsoft Data Platform Insider blog confirmed the May date. According to that blog, there have been 150,000 downloads by testers of the R2 release. The November Community Technology Preview (CTP) release was the last test build Microsoft is planning to issue for the product, officials said.

SQL Server 2008 R2, codenamed Kilimanjaro, will come in a number of new flavors, including a Datacenter edition and a Parallel Data Warehouse edition (formerly codenamed “Project Madison”). The Datacenter edition builds on the SQL Server 2008 R2 Enterprise product, but adds application and multi-server management; virtualization; high-scale complex event processing (via StreamInsight); and supports more than 8 processors and up to 256 logical processors. The Parallel Data Warehouse version will be sold preloaded on servers as a data warehouse appliance. Using the DataAllegro technology Microsoft acquired in 2008, it will scale customers’ data warehouses from the tens of terabytes, up to one petabyte plus range, according to the company.

All versions will be available commercially in May except Parallel Data Warehouse, a spokesperson said. All Microsoft will say there is it will be out in the first half of 2010 (so I guess that means it could be in June).