TFS Release Candidate coming soon

Sorry for being so quiet recently…we’ve been busy wrapping up our next pre-release of Team Foundation Server. This means we’ve been fixing tons of bugs (including many reported from you through the forums and Product Feedback center) as well as improving our installation experience especially around SharePoint configuration, running thousands of automated and manual tests, improving our behavior in short- and long-haul stress scenarios, and putting the final touches on the Beta3 refresh upgrade utilities. While all this was going on, we also updated our dogfood server twice and it now has over 550 active users pounding on it daily. Needless to say we’ve been a bit busy. :->

Anyway, we’re planning on releasing our TFS Release Candidate in early February (and I mean very early February as long as everything goes as planned). While there will be a few known issues in this release that we still intend to fix, it’ll be very close to the final version. As a result, we need your help in validating that we haven’t missed any big issues before we release the golden bits. As I’ve previously explained, we’re only fixing the most critical of issues to help prevent regressions and your feedback is very important in helping us make these decisions.

As with Beta3 refresh, this Release Candidate will be a ‘go-live’ release. By this we mean that we’ll provide the tools you need to upgrade your data from Beta3 Refresh and we’ll support migrating your data from the RC to final release of TFS. Please, please, please plan on upgrading to this release. We need your feedback to help us make sure we’re ready to release the final bits and your real world, production usage is the best way for us to gauge this readiness. We are still committed to releasing the final build of TFS in the first quarter of 2006.

As we get closer to the RC date, I’ll provide updates to make sure you have the latest status on availability. If all goes well, you can be working on this upgrade while watching one of the two TFS NFL teams (Seattle Seahawks or the Carolina Panthers) play in the Super Bowl. Okay, maybe you’re not that dedicated…how about during the pregame show? :->

Thanks again to our many early adopters and the feedback you’ve provided us. I think you’ll be quite happy with the installation, stability and performance improvements we’ve made in this upcoming release. With your help, it’s really coming together.

Woohoo!