Yes, you read that right; for those of you waiting to try SQL Server 2008 until SP1 is available, we are one step closer. You can download the CTP from the following URL:
http://microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=6f26fc45-f0ca-49cf-a6ee-840c7e8bb8af
The CTP will bring your instance to build # 10.00.2520.
Thumbs up on finally adding slipstream capability and the ability to
uninstall the service pack without uninstalling the instance.
Thumbs down on creating a CHM help file that is mostly legalese and requires a self-extracting exe wrapper to extract one file.
There is also an Express version available:
http://microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0f8df01e-b05b-401b-87e7-bc516683cfe0
You can read more about the release at the Release Services blog:
http://blogs.msdn.com/sqlreleaseservices/archive/2009/02/23/sql-server-2008-service-pack-1-sp1-ctp.aspx