The “R2” designation indicates that this is not a major release of SQL Server, but there are a number of interesting new features for developers. R2 is different enough from SQL 2008 that we decided to treat it as we would a major release and dedicate a new group of servers to R2 (rather than upgrading the existing 2008 servers).
MS SQL 2008 R2 is available right now as an option in Control Panel. You may notice that we have also revamped the “Database Management” section of Control Panel to make it a bit easier to navigate.
We are always working hard to stay on the cutting edge and maintain our spot as the best .NET host in the world, and as always we appreciate your support and feedback.