I've been whining and complaining and begging for some sort of clue as to when this version would be released, and I have to say it was definately worth the wait.
The fact that it was available for download July 27th made things even better, since that was my birthday!

So thanks for making this incredible software even more powerful, and for making my birthday 100x's sweeter. It really made my day!
p.s. the Maya, Max, and Lightwave guys where I work are all extremely interested in the stuff I've been showing them in v8. They all downloaded the apprentice version and I've never seen them so determined to learn the software. I think this addition will help expand the Houdini community quite a bit!