SQL Server 2005 Beta 2 Gets Close

Microsoft began taking sign ups for participation in the SQL Server 2005 Beta 2 program this week at its Microsoft TechEd show here as the long-awaited test version of the product gets close to availability.

"Beta 2 is coming in a couple of weeks," said Kirsten Hart Ward, senior product manager for Microsoft SQL Server product marketing. "This is the first time we've allowed people to sign up for it."

Attendees at the TechEd show received cards in their Microsoft bags with information on how to sign up for the SQL Server 2005 beta. While the 11,000 TechEd attendees are encouraged to apply, Beta 2 is not the broad public beta it had originally been expected to be. Instead a Beta 3 will represent the large public beta that will be available for general download from the Web, Ward said.

By almost any other software company's standards, however, Beta 2 will be huge. While the Beta 1 went to about 10,000 customers, Microsoft expects about 100,000 customers and partners to participate in Beta 2. It will be available to MSDN Universal and Enterprise level subscribers.

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