Microsoft Preps Yukon for Beta Release

Thanks to |CEMAN for posting this in BPN

Microsoft is zeroing in on dates for the beta release of its next-generation SQL Server database, code-named Yukon.

The company is working to provide 1,500 customers and partners with the Yukon beta code by February or March, development team members told one analyst. Based on feedback from that code drop, the company will determine release candidate and general availability dates, said Mark Shainman, analyst at Meta Group.

Publicly, Microsoft has said it hopes to ship a Yukon beta in the first half of 2003, with final commercial product due by the end of the year. A Microsoft spokeswoman would not comment on specific dates

Alpha code of the database, which will be a linchpin technology for Microsoft products and services going forward, is currently in the hands of a few select customers, sources said.

Solution providers are eager to get their hands on usable beta code.

"From my perspective, Yukon takes all the reliability, scalability and transaction capabilities of SQL Server 2000 and adds a lot more developer productivity," said Paul Hernacki, strategic solutions manager at Extreme Logic, an Atlanta-based solution provider

Key Features of Yukon