Vista SP1 release candidate will be available next week!

Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Microsoft

Vista SP1 release candidate will be available next week!

by Christina Warren Dec 5th 2007

It looks like our wish of a Vista SP1 release before Christmas may in fact be coming true. Microsoft's Windows Vista Blog announced that the Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) release candidate (RC) is now available via Microsoft Connect and will be available to MSDN and TechNet subscribers tomorrow. Even better, this release will be made available to the public next week via Microsoft's Download Center. Microsoft is still aiming at an early 2008 release (and the blog says they are on-track), but depending on the feedback fro the RC public release, we think we might see the final version out even faster.

As the blog states, a release candidate is typically the last phase in beta development before a product goes RTM (release-to-manufacturing), or "gold." Some of the biggest changes with the RC, as compared with previous betas, are the reduction of both the installer size and the amount of diskspace required for the installer. Additionally, the RC will automatically clean-up any directories left behind from previous SP1 betas, which in the past left up to 1 GB of data, even after being uninstalled. They have also improved SP1's integration with Windows Update. Microsoft has also provided an patch for IT Admins who may want to prevent users from installing any SP1 release before the final shipping version via Windows Update.

Please note, if you do install the RC update early, you will need to uninstall it before updating to the final SP1 release.

Tags: sp1, vista, vista sp1 rc, VistaSp1Rc

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