Microsoft has finally stuck an official date for General Availability (GA) of SQL Server 2008 R2. May 6th will be the official release date - if Microsoft holds true to historical trends, MSDN should have it available for download around April 20th (usually at least a few weeks ahead of GA). R2 will mark the first time since SQL Server 6.5 (for reference, I believe that had a March 1996 release date plus or minus a couple of months) that Microsoft has put out a minor release for SQL Server. R2 has an official version of 10.5.
Compatibility Issues?
I'm still exploring compatibility, but have not yet seen any issues. Like most "R2" releases that Microsoft has done, the majority of SQL Server 2008 R2 can be considered to be an "add-on" rather than any real replacement for functionality. The area I have most expected compatibility problems has been around Reporting Services, as this is the one area where some things are just plain different - not just an extension to what was. That said, I have yet to see a SQL Server 2008 RTM based report break just because of R2, so things are looking good there.
About the Books...
Wiley has decided that there is not enough new in R2 to warrant new books being put out. I had hoped to utilize it to clean up an item or two that I either unhappy with in the 2008 books or toss in a few things I feel I omitted, but it would appear that won't happen. In some respects, this is just as well, as the project I am working on at the moment is going to have me busy beyond an above average level for the duration of the year. That said, I hope to put out some form of coverage of changes in SSRS as well as address an omission in the Professional title (Filtered Indexes). I will attempt to address both issues in some form - even if it is just "a plan" by the release of R2.
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