14 DAY TRIAL // The second service pack for Windows Vista has been released to manufacturing. Microsoft provided official confirmation of the RTM of Windows Vista Service Pack 2 as well as Windows Server 2008 SP2 on April 28, 2009. However, as was the case with the RTM of Vista SP1, the SP2 gold bits are not yet available for download. Furthermore, the Redmond company failed to provide the actual deadline when it planned to make Service Pack 2 available to users, only indicating that this scenario would happen sometime in the second quarter of 2009. Expect nothing more than a standard service pack from Vista SP2 and Windows Server 2008 SP2, with the focus put on delivering all the updates released since SP1 in a single package as well as introducing support for new types of hardware and embracing emerging hardware standards.
Vista SP2 RTM “includes all updates that have been delivered since SP1, as well as support for new types of hardware and emerging hardware standards,” revealed Brandon LeBlanc, Windows communications manager on the Windows Client Communications Team. “As we have mentioned before, here are some of the key benefits of Windows Vista SP2: Windows Search 4.0 for faster and improved relevancy in searches; Bluetooth 2.1 Feature Pack supporting the most recent specification for Bluetooth Technology; Ability to record data on to Blu-Ray media natively in Windows Vista; Adds Windows Connect Now (WCN) to simplify Wi-Fi Configuration; Windows Vista SP2 enables the exFAT file system to support UTC timestamps, which allows correct file synchronization across time zones.”
Service Pack 2 for Vista and Windows Sever 2008 comes packaged into a single installer, as the two operating systems have been joined at the hip since the release of SP1 in early 2008. LeBlanc indicated that Microsoft expected Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 to be publicly available in Q2 2009. No specific date was given. Still, it looks like Microsoft is not hurrying up by any standards with the general availability of Vista SP2. The Redmond company even mentioned that it could take as much as a few months for the service pack to make its way to consumers.
“Consumers with Windows Vista SP1 don’t need to do anything special to get SP2; simply turn on Windows Update and sometime during the coming months your computer will download and install SP2. Business customers with Windows Vista will find that the transition to Windows 7 will be significantly more straightforward due to the high degree of compatibility between Windows Vista and Windows 7. If your Windows Vista SP1 deployment is already underway we recommend you continue with SP1 as planned. Then you can deploy SP2 using your systems management infrastructure. If you are in the early stages of deployment or still planning Windows Vista deployment our best advice is that you plan on testing and deploying Windows Vista SP2,” added Celine Allee, Windows director.