SQL Server 2008 R2 gets an official due date

Speaking of roadmaps, Microsoft (either "by design" or by mistake) has provided a due date for SQL Server 2008 R2, the next version of its database.

Up until recently, the Softies have been saying SQL Server 2008 R2 would be a "first half" 2010 product. But in a new benchmark report, that date gets more specific.

"SQL Server 2008 R2 will be generally available by May 6, 2010," according to the benchmark white paper (and an accompanying blog post by a Microsoft employee).

SQL Server 2008 R2 is the product codenamed Kilimanjaro. Microsoft released earlier this month a new test build of the R2 update, and announced it would be adding a few new high-end SKUs to its SQL Server product list when the final bits are available.

May 2010 might end up a busy month for Microsoft. Company execs told Microsoft partners this past summer that Office 2010 would launch in the May/June 2010 timeframe. As one of my readers noted recently, Microsoft's Office 2010 beta download site mentions a June 2010 final due date for Microsoft's next-generation Office release.

Update (December 1): Microsoft removed the mention of the June 2010 final due date from the Office download site. It was there on November 30; it's gone today.

I'm betting we could see Office 2010 be released to manufacturing before the end of June, as the Office team is the one at Microsoft that pioneered the under-promise and over-deliver strategy that has become the rallying cry of the Windows client unit these days....