Microsoft to Release Vista SP1 Publicly Next Week

Vista has proven to be a popular operating system over the past year, but mostly thanks to the fact that it’s bundled with the majority of new computers sold… desktops or notebooks. To catch on even greater though, problems need to be fixed. Service Pack 1 is supposed to fix numerous issues that make usage of the OS an absolute chore. Up to this point, the SP1 beta has been delivered to a select few. Next week will change that with the first publicly available version – Release Candidate 1.

All information regarding the SP1 can be found in the official whitepaper. For those who would rather avoid SP1 even at final launch, you can install a blocker patch that will disallow installation via Windows Update. I am going to wait until the final release before giving Vista’s first service pack a test, and it sure can’t come fast enough.

Today we’re making available the release candidate (RC) of Windows Vista SP1 via Microsoft Connect, and tomorrow subscribers to TechNet and MDSN will have access to those RC bits too. In addition, the RC will be available to the public next week via Microsoft’s Download Center. The release candidate phase of beta software is typically the final phase before the RTM (release-to-manufacturing) of a product and indicates that the code has attained a significant level of performance and stability.

Source: Windows Vista Blog