>My guess is that the research they're doing will end up in current .Net languages, just like F# ... errr... LINQ is doing.

Sorry, Craig. ;-)

F# has nothing to do with LINQ. F# is (or was) an attempt to bring Functional Programming to .NET. LINQ is more related to the C Omega project, which included both some query semantics and a -not yet implemented- mechanism for handle threading synchronization formerly known as Polyphonic C#.

By the way, there is plenty of interesting projects at MS Research, and in many cases there are some previews available.

Best regards,