Mike,

I tend to agree with you regarding the complexity of the issue.

The thing about software is that there's no timer that rings nor anything else that indicates that "it's done". The only thing is the absence of bug reports.

I personally believe that when the product was RTMed, everyone involved was pretty convinced that all of the known issues had been addressed. In fact, I think that the first indication that it was about to go gold was Mike Stewart's leaving for his trip (which if I recall correctly was in mid-June with the product being RTMed on 6/26 or thereabouts).

As a result, I think the scenario went something like...

In the first or second week of June it appeared like the product was "gold" (meaning, of course, ready to RTM). Everyone involved feels pretty good, no new issues are coming in. So, on or about the date mentioned above, it actually does RTM.

Between then and now, a bug (perhaps more than one) appears. Now it's too late to do anything but put out the "hotfix". Simple as that.

That's my take, and I appreciate the fact that the problems have been addressed so quickly.