What and when seem to be two of the most pressing questions when it comes down to the first Service Pack for Windows Vista. Microsoft has been completely mute when it came to details related to Windows Vista SP1. This is either the trademark or the leitmotif of the post Jim Allchin (Former) Co-President, Platforms & Services Division, era and the new reign of Steven Sinofsky, Senior Vice President, Windows and Windows Live Engineering Group, now in charge of the Windows project.

But of course there are additional question related to Vista SP1, on top of what the first refresh for the operating system will bring to the table and when will that happen. Well, Paul Thurrott posted a general Windows Vista SP1 FAQ on his website, offering the availability date for the release as well as the main contents. It is important to remember that this information has not been officially confirmed by Microsoft.

The Redmond company is much more willing to discuss Windows Seven, Vista's successor than SP1. Microsoft's strategy is quite rudimentary. In this manner, it hopes that both the media and the users will focus on Windows Vista. Deterring the focus away from Vista is not in Microsoft's best interest, as it needs to continue selling the operating system, independent of the release of SP1.

As far as availability is concerned, Microsoft has already made a beta version of the Service Pack available to a selection of testers and did reveal that a public beta will be released by the end of 2007. In this context, there are speculations that Vista SP1 will drop in 2008, in the vicinity of the Windows Server 2008 launch at the end of February. And of course there are also rumors pointing out that Vista SP1 will be released by November 2007, which apparently will coincide with the RTM date of Windows Server 2008.

One thing is clear though. Vista SP1 is intimately connected with Windows Server 2008, down to the core if you will. And this is not a figure of speech. The fact of the matter is that Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008 share the same kernel. So SP1 will upgrade Vista from kernel version 6.0 to build 6.1. In addition, Microsoft also plans to resolve issues related to PatchGuard, the kernel patch protection technology in the 64-bit editions of the platform that are locking security companies out and to open up the built-in Desktop Search mechanism to third party solutions.