diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 5852fb5317d..f8fc80ec588 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -4,23 +4,10 @@ Python News
 
 (editors: check NEWS.help for information about editing NEWS using ReST.)
 
-What's New in Python 3000?
+What's New in Python 3.0a1?
 ==========================
 
-*Release date: XX-XXX-200X*
-
-TO DO
------
-
-- See PEP 3000, 3100.
-
-- Weed really old/weird stuff from the library.
-
-- Use io.py instead of C stdio everywhere.
-
-- Make strings all Unicode (see branches/py3k-struni).
-
-- Get rid of various compatibility-related flags (e.g. division flags).
+*Release date: 31-Aug-2007*
 
 
 Core and Builtins
@@ -259,4 +246,3 @@ Tools/Demos
 -----------
 
 **(For information about older versions, consult the HISTORY file.)**
-
diff --git a/README b/README
index 09071e1d09c..8b9d01298c9 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 This is Python version 3.0 alpha 1
 ==================================
 
+For notes specific to this release, see RELNOTES in this directory.
+
 Python 3000 (a.k.a. "Py3k", and released as Python 3.0) is a new
 version of the language, which is incompatible with the 2.x line of
 releases.  The language is mostly the same, but many details,
@@ -12,10 +14,6 @@ This is an ongoing project; the cleanup isn't expected to be complete
 until 2008.  In particular there are plans to reorganize the standard
 library namespace.
 
-This README hasn't been fully updated for Python 3000 yet.  If you see
-anything that should clearly be changed, fix it (if you have checkin
-permissions) or submit a patch to the issue tracker (see below).
-
 
 Release Schedule
 ----------------
diff --git a/RELNOTES b/RELNOTES
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..03d2f730587
--- /dev/null
+++ b/RELNOTES
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+Python 3000 Release Notes
+=========================
+
+Release notes describe unfinished work in particular releases.
+
+Please report bugs to http://bugs.python.org/.
+
+Version 3.0a1 - Release Date 31-Aug-2007
+----------------------------------------
+
+- SSL support is disabled.  This causes a test_ssl to be skipped.
+  The new SSL support in the 2.6 trunk (with server-side support and
+  certificate verification) will be ported for 3.0a2.
+
+- Platform support is reduced.  We've mostly tested on Linux, OSX,
+  and Windows.
+
+- There are still some open issues on Windows.
+
+- Some new features are very fresh, and probably contain bugs: the new
+  format() method on strings (PEP 3101), the strict separation of
+  bytes and strings, the new buffer API (PEP 3118).