Testers can download what's called SQL Server 2016 Community Technology Preview (CTP) 2 from Microsoft's web site, as of today, May 27. (The first preview is numbered 2 because there was a private preview that was designated CTP1, officials confirmed.) Testers also can opt to test the public CTP2 preview using a virtual machine in Microsoft Azure.
As it is doing with other products across the company, Microsoft is committing to provide more frequent updates to their CTP previews. Users will be able to opt to download periodic updates to CTP2 so they can test new capabilities and features as soon as they are available, rather than waiting for Microsoft to release CTP3, according to a May 27 blog post.
Microsoft's SQL Server 2016 is expected to ship in 2016, but there's no official word on when exactly general availability will be.