14 DAY TRIAL // Windows Vista Service Pack 1 has been released to manufacturing on February 4, 2008. Subsequently, the RTM build of the first service pack for Windows Vista was leaked and is now widely available for download via torrent trackers. Moreover, there are even hacks available in the wild, allegedly permitting access to Vista SP1 RTM straight from Microsoft's Windows Update servers. Even as the bits for Vista SP1 went gold on February 4, Microsoft failed to reveal the exact availability dates for the delivery of the service pack. No word from the Redmond company whether Vista SP1 would hit MSDN, TechNet or Connect ahead of the general consumer releases scheduled to debut in March.
Due to quality concerns revolving a collection of drivers, which apparently generate problems when integrating SP1 in Vista RTM, Microsoft began shipping the RTM build of the service pack to OEM partners and started the process of producing the retail Vista SP1 DVDs. End users should expect Vista SP1 no earlier than mid-March via the Microsoft Download Center, Windows Update and Microsoft Update. Only in mid-March will SP1 actually be delivered though Automated updates. This is of course valid for the English, French, Spanish, German and Japanese versions of Vista SP1. The remaining languages are planned for RTM starting in April.
But while Microsoft seems to be rather shy of offering Vista SP1 RTM, the slipstream version of the service pack has made its way onto peer-to-peer file sharing networks and is up for grabs for any user armed with a BitTorrent client. Both the 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows Vista SP1 RTM Build 6001.18000.080118-1840_x86fre_Client_en-us have been leaked, one weighing in at 2.9 GB, while the other is 3.66 GB. Microsoft has as far failed to comment the situation, or to deliver an update on Vista SP1 RTM's availability via Connect, MSDN or TechNet.
In addition, it seems that the service pack in its final form is already available for download via the Redmond company's Windows Update server. All it takes, just as with previous testing development milestones of Vista SP1, is a registry hack in order for the operating system to identify the update on the WU servers. Microsoft has yet to officially confirm that Build 6001.18000 is the final build for Windows Vista SP1 RTM.
