We've posted Beta 1 of WinFS, the next generation relational file system for Windows, to MSDN subscribers today (http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/) There were some snafus since the bits weren't supposed to hit until tonight but what can you do. . . . :)
There are some exciting things with this beta including Windows XP support. The end game for WinFS stays the same which is that WinFS will be in beta when Windows Vista ships. You'll learn a lot more about WinFS at PDC.
There is also a new WinFS Blog available up on MSDN for you to learn more about the product at http://blogs.msdn.com/winfs
We took some people by surprise by releasing our beta early but we wanted to make sure we get it out there before PDC so developers have some time to try it out and provide feedback. It's pretty neat if you haven't tried WinFS. The samples in the SDK are excellent and will step you through getting started with WinFS.
Stay tuned for more WinFS news in the future. . . . Who knows. Maybe we'll surprise everyone again!
Tom