New Windows 7 SP1 RTM Wave Distributed via WSUS

As it is the case with all Microsoft Service Pack releases, Windows 7 SP1 RTM is being distributed to customers worldwide through multiple channels.

As of March 8th, 2011, the Redmond company has added yet another distribution avenue to the channels through which is serving the first upgrade to Windows 7.

Essentially, the software giant has given green light to the availability of Windows 7 SP1 through Windows Server Update Services (WSUS).

WSUS is used by business customers to deploy Microsoft technologies, updates, etc. in organizations with a large number of computers in which installing them manually would simply not make sense.

“We’ve had a great response to Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1) through the Microsoft Download Center and Windows Update. Windows 7 SP1 continues to roll out on Windows Update,” revealed Microsoft’s Brandon LeBlanc.

“For customers with IT departments, today we are making SP1 available on the WSUS (Windows Server Update Services) catalog, which makes it available through management tools including WSUS, System Center and others. These tools make it easy for IT professionals to deploy SP1 in their environments in an automated fashion and at their own pace.”

Windows 7 SP1 hit general availability on February 22nd, 2011, when the bits went live on the Download Center and through WU.

Microsoft hasn’t released any figures designed to reveal just how successful SP1 RTM has been with customers, in terms of downloads and number of installs.

Still, from the feedback I have been receiving, it appears that end users and business customers were perfectly happy with the RTM version of Windows 7, and unless they need a specific fix included in SP1, or the RemoteFX and DynamicMemory enhancements to the virtual stack of Windows Server 2008 R2, I don’t really see a point for them to rush the upgrade.

The next step for Microsoft is to enable the automatic delivery of Windows 7 SP1 through Automatic Updates, but I suspect it will still be a while before that happens.

Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) RTM Build 7601.17514.101119-1850 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1) RTM are available for download here.