The releasing to manufacturing of Windows Vista SP1 on February 4, 2008, failed to coincide with the general availability of the service pack. Arguing potential driver problems on the integration of the service pack, Microsoft essentially postponed Vista SP1 almost a month and a half. Only in mid-March will Vista SP1 be made available via Windows Update, Microsoft Update and the Microsoft Download Center. And it will take yet another month, until mid-April for the service pack to be delivered via Automatic Update. April will also be the month when the first OEM computers preloaded with the refresh and the DVDs of Vista SP1 will hit the shelves.

In the meantime, Vista users have found alternative ways to access the service pack. First off, there are some, from Microsoft partners to the limited testing pool of 15,000 strong users, that were involved in the development of Vista SP1, and that are already running the final bits. And since Vista SP1 RTM essentially is the same as Vista SP1 RC Refresh 2 released in the second half of January, the final version of the service pack is already running on computers around the world. Vista SP1 was even leaked to torrent sites and is making its way through peer-to-peer file sharing networks. Additionally, the registry script from Microsoft Connect has found its way into the wild, and is permitting users to grab Vista SP1 directly from the company's Windows Update servers.

All for a taste of what the final Vista SP1 will deliver. Even in the context of Windows 7 and Windows XP SP3, Vista SP1 did manage to rise up the hunger of Vista users. But the truth of the matter is that only when Vista SP1 will start to propagate through the mass of 100+ million users will it be clear whether the service pack has managed to soften all the rough edges of the latest Windows operating system. While only dangling Vista SP1 in front of the users, without actually delivering it for another month, Microsoft seems to exercise caution not to repeat the mishaps of Vista RTM. And as far as the actual experience of running Vista SP1, and as far as the Redmond company is concerned, you will have to settle for the descriptive evolution of the service pack.

"This last year has been a great year of progress for Windows Vista in terms of improving application and device compatibility. For example, 98 out of the top-selling 100 applications have versions available for Windows Vista. And through the great work of our hardware partners, we now have 78,000 devices and components supported by Windows Update, up from about 34,000 in November 2006. As a result, we have licensed over 100 million copies of Windows Vista to date. It further improves the reliability and performance of Windows Vista. Since these issues have a direct impact on our customers' experiences, we've invested time and energy to make this better. While Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is an important milestone, we will continue to invest in the continuous improvement process," revealed Mike Nash, Corporate Vice President, Windows Product Management.

"SP1, Service Pack 1 for Vista is one of the most complex releases shipped by the Windows teams. This is the first time that a primary Client SP and a major Server release were jointly developed and released at the same time. Delivering a high quality SP1 has been the core focus for dedicated teams the past 15+ months. It’s been a long journey for some of them, but looking at what’s being delivered this is something we (as Microsofties) can be proud of. SP1 is a high quality release that addresses the user’s need for better key performance, reliability and compatibility issues while experiencing highly reliable setup experience. As far as I’ve tested this myself, I can only say it’s really a progress. I love working for this company, where so many people put their shoulders under a project and then come up with a good thing like this. I’m proud to be part of this family," explained Miel Van Opstal, Microsoft Enthusiast Evangelist.