"We've called [Yukon] a montage release," said Betsy Burton, an analyst for Gartner Inc., in San Jose, Calif. "It's being pulled in different directions by different groups within Microsoft. Senior management had a vision for where they saw Microsoft going; developers had a vision; [and] as .Net evolved, that began to influence SQL Server." Then the Slammer worm struck some 14 months ago, Burton noted, and played yet more havoc with Yukon's release date, as the development focus shifted to security. Microsoft CEO Bill Gates' Secure Computing initiative also got handed down in the middle of Yukon's development cycle, causing all new development to come to a halt in order to align Yukon with the initiative's dictates.
Because of these shifting requirements, Gartner, amongst many observers, had already foreseen Yukon's general availability being postponed until the first half of 2005, Burton said. "Based on the evolving requirements for this product, and based on the current timing for Yukon, and based on where the product is today in terms of its beta cycle, we don't believe Yukon will be delivered until the first half of 2005," she said.
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