If you’re a developer like me, you’ve likely been waiting for the release of Visual Studio 2005. The official launch is still November 7th, but it was announced yesterday that VS2005 and SQL Server 2005 have been released to manufacturing, and are available now to MSDN subscribers:

In addition, Microsoft on Thursday detailed a limited-time “migration pricing” program meant to attract customers of competitive databases.

For customers of Oracle, Sybase, and IBM’s DB2 and Informix database, Microsoft will give a 50 percent discount on a SQL Server Enterprise Edition license with the purchase of a regularly priced Software Assurance License. The promotion begins Dec. 1.

Definitely good news for us developer-types, as this means there will not be any more delays! I can’t wait to play with SQL Server 2005. If you haven’t registered for The Launch, taking place in Edmonton on November 15th, go do it right now!

Read: CNET News.com