Last night Microsoft released Service Pack 1 Cumulative Update #10:
KB #2279604 : Cumulative update package 10 for SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 1
The build number is 10.00.2799 and there seem to be some interesting fixes included if you browse through them. But at least on first glance and at the gut level, I'm less interested in the fixes, and more interested in the timing. It seems very odd, given that - in response to customer demand - Service Pack 2 was promised in Q3 of this year, and Q3 ends in 8 days. And given also that typically another CU will need to be issued shortly after SP2 is released, in order to capture the fixes that branched off probably in July when the CTP of SP2 was first offered (I blogged about this as well).
The SQL Server Release Services blog has been oddly silent for a month (EDIT: they have pushed a post for this CU). Internal inquiries by several fellow MVPs have gone unanswered as well. At least one fellow twitterer feels more confident than I do that the release is imminent, but it begs the question, where is his information coming from?
Will we see Service Pack 2 by the end of Q3, or has the timeline slipped?
EDIT: I've already had a couple people ask if this update applies to R2, or if there is an equivalent update for R2 available at this time. This update is for SQL Server 2008 SP1 only. Cumulative Updates for SQL Server 2008 R2 have been released in conjunction with SQL Server 2005 SP3 CUs, so I don't expect that there will be a release for R2 so soon after the last one (mid-August). The next R2 CU should be made available around mid-October.