Access Windows Vista SP1 RC Refresh 2 Release Notes

Back in December 2007, Microsoft opened up the testing process of Windows Vista SP1, making available for download the first Release Candidate of the service pack. January 2008 brought with it the first Refresh for Vista SP1, initially dropped only via Microsoft Connect to approximately 15,000 testers, and subsequently made available for download to all Vista users. In mid-January, Microsoft dropped Vista SP1 Release Candidate Refresh 2 Build 6001.18000, this time exclusively to the 15,000 testers on Microsoft Connect. Although the latest development milestone of the service pack has been leaked, the Redmond company has not made it available to the public.

However, accompanying the Vista SP1 Refresh 2 are new Release Notes. Microsoft ISV Partner Account Manager, David Overton, pretty much summarized his experience of what the build has to offer. "I've been running Vista SP1 builds for a while and I like them. I don't like the process of changing builds which is 'simply' a case of uninstalling the old build, letting it reboot twice, updating the registry, doing find updates in windows update, reboot, do it again, reboot, do it again, wait 15 mins, do it again, then let it install for a chunk of time, reboot twice more. Now, you won't have this fun when the "real" update comes out, but us testers simply enjoy this process," Overton stated.

The documentation for Vista SP1 Refresh 2 is available via this link. "These release notes address late-breaking issues related to this release candidate of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1), along with instructions for working around them. Unless otherwise specified, these notes apply to all editions of the Windows Vista operating system with SP1," reads the introductory fragment of the release notes. Essentially, the documentation provides various information that Microsoft considers testers should know before jumping on-board the Vista SP1 RC Refresh wagon.