Software is part science and part art.

The science to the decision goes something like this: Somewhere in a marketing cube (or office) at Microsoft there's likely a graph with two lines. One line represents the number of customers who will delay purchasing until SP1 because of this bug and a general consensus that customers should wait for SP1 before deploying. Another line represents value lost by not releasing on the intended date. Where those lines intersect is a point that served as an argument for this decision.

The art of the decision involves balancing business and technology. The technology part is about the advances in SQL Server 2008 over previous versions. The business part falls into two categories: the companies that will benefit from the advances in SQL Server 2008 over previous versions and Microsoft's business strategy.

Personally, I'm glad I don't make those kinds of decisions often. When I do, it's no fun for me either.

:{> Andy