Books on beta releases of important software have sold extremely well, even though few contain much solid or original content. Microsoft approached AW, and its authors, to produce a book on the beta release of the next version of SQL Server, codenamed Yukon. To write the book, Microsoft is providing early access to the SQL Server team, ensuring that this book is not a rehash of readily available white papers and Web articles, but a resource of valuable, useful information. Yukon will be the most significant update in years, and has received tremedous advance buzz. The public beta will be made available in the first half of this year, coinciding with the release of our title. There may be other books publishing on the beta, but none will have had the Microsoft support and endorsement that our book has received. The authors will update the book's web site as the beta software develops, and will update the book for the final software release. This title will set a new standard for "beta" books.