Microsoft holds back Yukon and Whidbey

Microsoft has admitted that the release of forthcoming versions of SQL Server and Visual Studio .Net will be delayed until the first half of 2005.

The new products - codenamed Yukon and Whidbey respectively - were due to ship by the end of this year, but will now be released as SQL Server 2005 and Visual Studio .Net 2005.

In a statement the software giant said: "Microsoft made the decision to delay the delivery of these products to ensure that they meet the high quality requirements of our customers.

"We are still on track to deliver SQL Server 'Yukon' Beta 2 and Visual Studio 'Whidbey' Beta 1 in the coming months."

Yukon was initially expected in 2003, but the launch date slipped back to early, then late, 2004.

A second beta of Yukon and a first beta of Whidbey are expected in the next quarter, with a third beta of Yukon by the end of the year.

This is the latest in a series of delays to hit Microsoft's product roadmap.

The company announced an interim upgrade to Windows Server 2003 after the launch of its next operating major operating system, codenamed Longhorn, was put back a year, from late 2004 to 2005.

Some analysts have recently predicted that Longhorn may not arrive until as late as 2007.