Well... it goes like this... Microsoft sort of, but not quite, released Windows Vista Service Pack 1 to manufacturing, and as such it updated, but not quite, the documentation associated with the release. Yes, this is a new tradition over at the Redmond company, lots of hard work to get things done, release software products according to inhouse exclusive schedules (preferably known only to Steven Sinofsky, Senior Vice President, Windows and Windows Live Engineering Group), and then tell users there is no launch and to come back next month or so for the actual availability. Just a sweet deal.

As you have undoubtedly already heard, Microsoft has released Windows Vista Service Pack 1 to manufacturing. However, the fact that the code for Vista SP1 has gone gold does not mean that users are permitted access to the service pack. Not by a longshot. "Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) was released to manufacturing today and will start being available to customers in March, starting with Microsoft Volume Licensing customers," Microsoft informed.

According to Mike Nash, Corporate Vice President, Windows Product Management, Vista Sp1 will be released through Windows Update, the Download Center and Microsoft Update in mid-March. Then, in mid-April, the operating system's first service pack will start being served to users through Automatic Updates. This first wave of downloads will cover only the English, French, Spanish, German and Japanese languages. For all the other languages, the RTM will come in April, and the availability is yet to be announced, although by that time it will probably be immediate.

Accompanying the RTM of Vista SP1 are the Release Notes for the service pack. "Release documentation that contains known issues for Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1). These release notes provide important information you should know before deploying and using Windows Vista SP1. You should familiarize yourself with all of the known issues in this document prior to installing the software," Microsoft revealed.

Still, as Vista SP1 is not quite available for users, the Release Notes, which you can grab here, continue to refer to the Release Candidate Refresh 2 build dropped in the second half of January 2008. This although the documentation is supposedly updated on February 4, 2008, the Vista SP1 RTM date.