Microsoft officials have started talking publicly about the next major release of SQL Server, which they are saying will be codenamed “Denali.”
They’re not saying much — actually, anything — more about Denali other than acknowledging the codename. (Not sure why they’ve decided to do that, but as a diehard codename watcher, I’ll take it.)
Microsoft codename buffs will recall that Microsoft has used the Denali codename before, for a prior version (1.0) of Active Server Pages. Not sure why the team is recycling it. There are lots of other national parks out there. (The SQL team has favored national park codenames for ages.)
My bet is Denali will be SQL Server 2011, which will be the version of SQL Server that follows SQL Server 2008 R2 (codenamed “Kilimanjaro”). The R2 release is slated to ship in early May, Microsoft officials said recently, and a Release Candidate for it should be right around the corner.
A couple of other SQL Server-related dates from the February 12 blog post by Matthias Berndt, SQL Server Group Program Manager, which mentioned the Denali codename:
- SQL Server 2008 Service Pack (SP) 2 is due out in the third calendar quarter of this year.
- SQL Server 2005 SP4 is ue out in the fourth calendar quarter of this year.
- SQL Server 2005 will enter into the “Extended” (paid) support phase as of April 13, 2011. Support will end completely on April 12, 2016.
