SQL Server 'Katmai' testing to begin in June

Three cheers for the BabelFish translation system.

The only words I recognized in this Austrian TechNet blog post were "Katmai" and "SQL Server." After doing a little on-the-fly Web translation, I learned that Microsoft has begun its internal nominating process for signing up testers via its Technology Adoption Program (TAP) for the next major major SQL Server release, code-named "Katmai."

(Katmai seems to be the name for an entire wave of server codenames, as I pointed out earlier this year, since there also is a System Center "Katmai" release on deck.)

The Katmai TAP tests commence in June 2007. All testing will be done in secret, according to the original TechNet post.

When is SQL Server Katmai due to ship? Originally, it was believed Katmai would be a 2007 release. Recently, Steven Bink of Bink.nu fame, posted that Microsoft officials said a new version of SQL Server (which Bink guessed might be called SQL Server 2005 Release 2) was due in 2008. When I asked Microsoft officials to confirm Bink's report, they declined. (But they didn't deny it, either.)

In any case, SQL Server Katmai is finally back on the radar screen.