It's official: SQL Server 2016 to launch publicly on June 1

Mark your calendars: Microsoft has confirmed the general availability release date of SQL Server 2016 as June 1, capping off months of public betas and bringing a host of improvements.

Key focuses of the release are speed, security, extensibility, and helping bridge the divide between on-premise and cloud deployments through Microsoft's new Stretch architecture. Tim Ford has an overview of what to expect with the new release, and Microsoft's full blog post on the announcement is available here.

SQL Server Pro author Liam Cleary will be covering Microsoft's SharePoint 2016 launch event on Wednesday, so check back then for more news and analysis.