Microsoft announced at the Worldwide Partner Conference that Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008, and SQL Server 2008 will all launch together at an event in Los Angeles on February 27, 2008, followed by hundreds of launch events around the world.
In addition, Scott Guthrie has announced that Visual Studio 2008 ("Orcas") Beta 2 will be available for immediate download very soon. It will also support a go-live license.
This is a much anticipated release for me and I can hardly wait!