I haven’t checked it in a while, but I recently saw that the NetBeans team has updated the official roadmap for version releases. I had previously seen a mention of NetBeans 7, but it seems the next release will be NetBeans 6.5.

Frankly I’m glad to see this as it gets tiring to see a new major version every year. I have no real justification for that comment - just opinion :).

Here’s the roadmap :

 

Looks like NetBeans 6.5 is tentatively scheduled for Octobeer 2, 2008. Based on this I would imagine NetBeans 7 to be released around JavaOne in May 2009.

Possible topics for inclusion in NetBeans 6.5 and greater are listed on the NetBeans Dev Wiki here. A higher-level list is included here.