An extract from his article about what is to come in 2005:
"According to Poole, Longhorn will RTM (be released to manufacturing) and, presumably, given to customers in 2005. This settles a long-standing question about whether Microsoft would shoot for a late 2004 release or simply let the product slip into the next year. The 2005 RTM date is interesting for a number of reasons, as is what I'm calling Longhorn's "tiered rollout." Let me explain what I mean by this."
Again, a good read by Paul, highly recommended.
Source:
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase...eview_2003.asp