There is an intimate connection between Microsoft's latest operating system and its first refresh, one that stretches beyond code and into generalized customer perception. Service Pack 1 is the Holly Grail as far as the adoption of Windows Vista is concerned. Microsoft is well aware of this aspect and has done everything in its power to deter attention away from SP1 and onto Windows Updates, as a valid equivalent. Still, the strategy was far from successful for the Redmond company, and with Vista out for businesses and the general consumers, focus immediately shifted to SP1. The Windows Omerta umbrella of silence built around SP1 by Steven Sinofsky, Senior Vice President, Windows and Windows Live Engineering Group, still managed to leak details related to the first refresh for Vista, as well as the pre-beta test build of the product.

A new research coming from Forrester reveals that business are relaxing their planned pace of Vista deployment. Contributing to the trend are the inherent software incompatibilities issues, the implied hardware upgrades associated with the operating system and the fact that Microsoft still indicates strong support for Windows XP, creating the impression of comfort in the detriment of Vista adoption. Moreover, deploying Vista after SP1 will minimize the impact that the service pack's availability would have on corporate infrastructures, as opposed to scenarios where Vista is already running in a corporate environment. Currently, speculations point to either the end of 2007, but more likely early 2008, after the February release of Windows Server 2008, for the launch of Vista SP1. Microsoft is yet to confirm the date.

"For the vast majority of businesses, Windows Vista is a matter of when and how - not if. This is thanks in large part to Microsoft's dominance in the corporate client operating system (OS) market. Last year, Forrester interviewed more than 1,600 PC decision-makers across North American and European enterprises and SMBs about their Windows Vista deployment plans. More recently, we followed up with 45 expert user interviews to get a sense of how IT has been preparing for Windows Vista - if at all. What we found is mostly in line with previous generations of the Windows OS: initial upgrade apathy, followed by acceptance, and eventually, action," stated Benjamin Gray, Forrester analyst.