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Scott Guthrie explains the Whidbey release timing

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After seeing a post about the timing of the Whidbey release on Benjamin's blog, I emailed Scott Guthrie to get some questions answered directly. Just like at the PDC, he was really responsive to direct questions and was nice enough to let me post his answers to my blog.

The summary:

  • The first public beta will be released in June
  • There will be releases before the first public beta with limited availability
  • Second beta release will be after issues from first public beta are resolved
  • There will be a “go-live license” available for the second beta

Full answers:

Chris Garty: I just read a blog entry from Benjaminm saying that the Whidbey beta would be out in June. Could you possibly clarify on this in a blog posting?

Scott Guthrie: It is looking like the official beta will now be more June timeframe (the dates have moved recently), although we will also be publishing interim beta builds before then for people who want early access to the bits. These interim builds will have the beta feature-set - although obviously won't have all of the stability and quality of the final beta.

Chris Garty: How can people get hold of the interim builds?

Scott Guthrie: We are planning to start publishing some interim builds in the next two months. These will have the beta features implemented, although not all the quality we expect from a beta (that will come later).

Chris Garty: When will these interim builds be available?

Scott Guthrie: We are still finalizing the exact list of people who have access to the interim builds - and don't yet know whether it will be available to the entire public. But the number will definitely be in the thousands. If so send me mail again in about 6 weeks time I can make sure you definitely get access to it.

Chris Garty: Is the beta in June the 'public beta'?

Scott Guthrie: Yep -- June is the month we are pushing for to release our official blessed beta release with what we consider "beta quality". It will be public for everyone to use.

Chris Garty: Is the beta in June the one that people will be able to obtain a support license for if early production work is required? If not when might that beta come out?

Scott Guthrie: We won't have a go-live license available with the first beta -- instead we are going to wait for the second beta (once we fix all the issues identified with the first beta) before we release a broad go-live license. Anyone will then be able to sign-up for it and deploy production applications on it.

Comments

  • Anonymous
    February 15, 2004
    According to a conversation with Scott Guthrie on Chris Garty's blog, the public beta release of Whidbey is set for June 2004....
  • Anonymous
    February 16, 2004
    One clarification, was that an open invitation for readers to contact Scott Guthrie for the beta, or for you personally?
  • Anonymous
    February 16, 2004
    Just keep an eye out for the interim builds and when you know they have come out, make sure you get them. I'll post about availability of these interim builds at a later date.
  • Anonymous
    February 16, 2004
    Just started playing with the PDC bits and like what I see. I found some issues with Source Code Control integration and was surprised to see that Whidbey uses it's own web server instead of the local IIS.
  • Anonymous
    February 16, 2004
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    February 16, 2004
    "The first public beta will be released in June"

    I bet it's exactly when TechEd europe is planned. MS always releases big betas on big shows.
  • Anonymous
    February 16, 2004
    "I'm presuming that the information above applies to the beta of the actual framework."

    I believe that references to "Whidbey" are implying both the framework and Visual Studio, since I can't see one being released without the other.

    I may ask around around to clarify this...

    - Chris
  • Anonymous
    February 17, 2004
    Chris Garty,

    That is true about both the framework and Visual Studio being release. The IA64 framework will also be available in the public beta of Whidbey.
  • Anonymous
    February 17, 2004
    I dont get this: doesn't Whidbey need longhorn to run?
  • Anonymous
    February 17, 2004
    Eduardo,

    No, it doesn't.. Visual Studio.net 2005 will be the based around longhorn.
  • Anonymous
    February 18, 2004
    So it seems that both the framework and VS beta will be available in June but does that mean that VS will be a public beta available to everyone? If not what will it take to participate in the beta - existing VS user or do you have to be selected by MS?
  • Anonymous
    February 18, 2004
    You might have to be selected by MS. You just have to watch around for the betaplace sign up GuestID.
  • Anonymous
    February 19, 2004
    I'm sure the public beta will be available as a download to MSDN universal subscribers, just like the Longhorn bits from the PDC are right now. If you aren't an MSDN universal subscriber then I'm sure you could pick up a copy from either a developer conference, a microsoft representative, or a friend that managed to get hold of it :)
  • Anonymous
    June 10, 2004
    I am a PRO MSDN subscriber will BETA1 be available to download?
  • Anonymous
    July 04, 2004
    Can't wait for Beta 2!
  • Anonymous
    October 04, 2004
    Whidbey is the codename for Visual Studio 2005 and the next release of the .NET Framework (2.0). Yukon is the codename for the next release of SQL Server - SQL Server 2005 ...
  • Anonymous
    March 07, 2005
    re: CTP版のC# ExpressとSQL Server Expressのインストール