SQL Server 2008 June CTP has been annouced at TechEd 2007

At today's TechEd 2007 in Orlando, we have annouced SQL Server 2008's, formerly known as Katmai, first community tech preview (CTP). Unlike SQL Server 2005, where we took over 5 years, SQL Server 2008 will be delivered in less than 3! See here for the official scoop and register here!

What does this bring for XML Support and other interesting programmability support, you may ask. Well, we are doing a bit of XML (not quiet as much as you may would have liked, but we need to also invest in other areas ;-) ), added a new MERGE statement, finally added some more usable date and time datatypes, work on adding support for spatial datatypes and indexing and a slew of other interesting, cool features.

I personally have been working on XML (obviously) and spatial indexing, besides being involved in one way or another with many of the programmability features, and - yes, that's the most important change for the product ;-) - the change of @@version from 9.0 to 10.0 :-).

I am at TechEd as well and will give the following breakout and chalk-talk presentations on XML and Spatial:

Wednesday, June 6 10:15 AM - 11:30 AM, Blue Theater 12:
DAT11-TLC - XML Q&A
Speaker(s): Peter DeBetta, Michael Rys
Two experts, one place to get your questions on XML in SQL Server answered. Interested in what's new in SQL Server 2008 ("Katmai"), or the new FOR XML PATH? Want to know when to use XML? How to index it? Need to know how to write an XQuery? Come to this session, and Michael and Peter will see that you get an answer.

Thursday, June 7 9:45 AM - 11:00 AM, Blue Theater 12:
DAT17-TLC - Spatial Support in Microsoft SQL Server
Speaker(s): Michael Rys, Michael Wang
The next version of SQL Server will include provide support for spatial data. This chalk talk presents the new spatial datatypes and indexing mechanisms so you can fully take advantage of the new capabilities that are being offered.

Friday, June 8 1:00 PM - 2:15 PM, S210 E:
DAT422 - Deep Dive into XQuery and XML in Microsoft SQL Server: Common Problems and Best Practice Solutions
Speaker(s): Michael Rys
This presentation provides a deep dive into the XML, XQuery, and XML indexing support in SQL Server 2005. It uses example scenarios that customers have come across when using XML and XQuery to show how to use optimize XQuery expressions, and provides the best practices on how to address the encountered issues.

Of additional interest should be the following presentations:

Today, Monday, June 4 3:00 PM - 4:15 PM, S320 A:
DAT201 - The Next Release of Microsoft SQL Server: Overview
Speaker(s): David Campbell
This session provides an overview of the next release of SQL Server that is currently under development. We cover the core value-proposition, major themes and scenarios, and some specific improvements. We also cover the new development processes being used to build this release, the release timeline and the disclosure calendar.

Tuesday, June 5 2:45 PM - 4:00 PM, N320 E:
DAT202 - The Next Release of Microsoft SQL Server: Beyond Relational  
Speaker(s): Shishir Mehrotra
As the data your applications work with changes from “words and numbers” to “sights and sounds”, we are evolving our data platform to go beyond relational data, beyond OLAP, to truly support all of the digital data types of the future. We will strive to deliver the best platform for integrated storage, and advanced applications such as spatial data, while also making it dramatically easier for you to build data-driven applications, without needing to invest significant resources in bridging the gap between data and programming language data structures. Come learn about the new enhancements in the next release of SQL Server that will help you manage all types of data.

Tuesday, June 5 4:30 PM - 5:45 PM, S210 E:
DAT312 - XML in Microsoft SQL Server 2005
Speaker(s): Peter DeBetta
XML is now a native type in SQL Server 2005. This session explores this new type, XML methods, new features for shredding and composing XML, and provides an introduction to XQuery, XPath, and some preferred practices for implementing XML, and other XML-related topics.

Wednesday, June 6 3:45 PM - 5:00 PM, Blue Theater 12:
DAT18-TLC - Overview of New T-SQL Programmability Features in the Next Release of Microsoft SQL Server
Speaker(s): Michael Wang
This session offers a high level overview of all new T-SQL programmability features introduced in next release of SQL Server in terms of SQL type system, DDL, server procedure programming, supportability, and globalization.
Friday, June 8 10:45 AM - 12:00 PM, Blue Theater 12:
DAT06-TLC - New T-SQL System Types in Microsoft SQL Server Codename "Katmai"
Speaker(s): Michael Wang
This session focuses on all new T-SQL system data types introduced in next release of SQL Server.

I hope to see you there or at the TLC booth of SQL Server.

Now that we can publicly talk about "Katmai", I will be blogging more about what's new and be available to take your feedback.