Here’s an interesting snippet I found from an article posted on Paul Thurrott’s windowsitpro.com site.

WinInfo Blog

According to several sources, Microsoft is hosting a Longhorn Labs event for technology enthusiasts and industry influencers next week in Redmond. The event is timed to coincide with the company’s official press and reviewer briefings for Longhorn Beta 1, which is still on track to ship by the end of the month. Meanwhile, I continue to be ambivalent about Longhorn. I hope something exciting happens soon.

Source