sektor
Is there an official release date or a status update?
No, there is never an official release date known in advance. It happens when it happens as the "development system" runs on volunteer effort, which is rather limited at present.
Click on the wiki link at top of forum and then see the link for sme 8 wiki page for further info.
Please contribute your time to test sme8, ie test & verify bugs and make sure you submit reports on what you do.
Even verifying & testing 2 or 3 bugs will help.
If you want you can also contact the developers and offer to financially sponsor some work which will assist towards getting sme 8 further developed.
Using sme 8 beta6 is reasonably safe, just keep in mind that as the software is still in beta, changes do & can occur and occassionally some workaround may need to be implemented when a new beta is released that causes problems. It's rare, but it does happen.