Following the RTW stage of Silverlight 2, Microsoft has also made available for download a new version of Expression Blend 2 Service Pack 1. Up until the bits for Silverlight 2 went gold, the Expression Blend 2 SP1 release on the Microsoft Download Center came with the Preview label. However, the Redmond giant has scrapped the Preview tag altogether from the October 13 variant of Expression Blend 2 SP1.

“Expression Blend 2 Service Pack 1 will install as an update to your existing installation of Expression Blend 2. Expression Blend 2 Service Pack 1 enables authoring support of the Silverlight 2 platform allowing Expression Blend 2 users to take full advantage of the new platform features. Expression Blend 2 Service Pack 1 requires you to update your Silverlight player to the Silverlight 2,” Microsoft informed.

In order to install the service pack, end users must have already deployed Expression Blend 2 but also the latest release of the .NET runtime, namely .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 (SP1). The last time that Microsoft updated Expression Blend 2 SP1 Preview was at the end of September 2008. At that time, the new bits were set up to play nice with .NET Framework SP1 and Silverlight 2 Release Candidate.

“There is a known issue when upgrading Expression Blend 2 Service Pack 1 Preview and Silverlight 2 SDK RC0 to their full versions. This issue manifests as build errors in a Silverlight 2 Application project, resulting in an error message that reads '[typename] is not supported in a Silverlight project'. These errors will appear on the Errors tab of the Results pane. This issue can be resolved by reinstalling Expression Blend 2 from the original location, and then selecting Repair. You can also resolve this issue by reinstalling the Silverlight 2 SDK from the original location, and then selecting Repair,” Microsoft informed.

Users already running the preview build of Expression Blend 2 SP1 are advised to upgrade to the latest release. The Redmond company has time-bombed Expression Blend 2 SP1 Preview, and the release is scheduled to expire on January 7, 2009.

Expression Blend 2 SP1 is available for download here.