"The "release notes" say Feb 12th, but this seems so late.  I am hoping that someone from Intuit can update us on why it's so late this year?"

The IRS has pushed the start of e-filing back to Feb 12th, which is a sign of them being behind the 8 ball this year.  It is only natural for 990s to be a little later than normal since the due date for a calendar return is May 15th.