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Oh, and SQL Server 2008 Is Delayed

I want to tip my cap to RDN columnist Peter Varhol who pointed me to a Joel Spolsky blog post expressing profound exasperation at the way Microsoft reveals delays. Spolsky savages the doublespeak found in this TechNet blog post by Microsoft Director of SQL Server Project Management Francois Ajenstat, who reveals that SQL Server 2008 will be delayed by a full quarter.

Spolsky pulls out this snip from Ajenstat's post, though the rest of it is thick with the florid language of self-congratulation.

"We want to provide clarification on the roadmap for SQL Server 2008. Over the coming months, customers and partners can look forward to significant product milestones for SQL Server. Microsoft is excited to deliver a feature complete CTP during the Heroes Happen Here launch wave and a release candidate (RC) in Q2 calendar year 2008, with final release to manufacturing (RTM) of SQL Server 2008 expected in Q3. Our goal is to deliver the highest quality product possible and we simply want to use the time to meet the high bar that you, our customers, expect."

For those who fell asleep before the good parts, SQL Server 2008 is delayed until Q3.

Now, I'm not one to light into Microsoft for incremental product delays. Building enterprise-class server software is hard, serious work. Delays can, and often must, happen to ensure the quality of the final product. Furthermore, by all accounts SQL Server 2005 has significantly raised the bar for the Redmond database franchise, and the early buzz on the 2008 version is very positive. But this is no way to talk to developers.

Fortunately, the Internet (a series of tubes, if you will) is there to speak for us in the form of Simple-Talk columnist Phil Factor (no, not his real name). In this delicious parody, Mr. Factor shows how this Microsoft-speak might play out if a student used it to answer a teacher's request for late homework.

Can Microsoft do a better job communicating to developers? What would you like to see changed or improved? E-mail me at [email protected].

Posted by Michael Desmond on 02/07/2008


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