Starting to talk about a second service pack for Windows 7 when Microsoft has yet to offer the public any details on SP1 might seem like jumping the gun, but then again, it appears that what may be ridiculous for the world is just planning ahead for the company. Reports indicate that the software giant is already exploring the development of Windows 7 SP2, at just three months after the general availability of the operating system, and with SP1 still kept under a tight lid. And after all, Microsoft ran tests involving Service Pack 1 well before Windows 7 was released to manufacturing on July 22nd, 2009.

According to Wzor, planning for Windows 7 SP2 has already kicked off in Redmond. In this sense, the Russian website indicates that the software giant is looking to start the actual work on Windows 7 SP2 one month before it will offer SP1 to the public. Windows 7 SP1 has a reported release date set for November 2010, which would have the development of SP2 start as early as October this year.

At the end of the past week, the first screenshots of Windows 7 SP1 were leaked in the wild. So far, various sources have confirmed that Microsoft has already started, or is going to be starting the external testing of Windows 7 SP1. The first to get Service Pack 1 bits will be testers close to Microsoft and company partners. The first time that Windows 7 SP1 popped out was with post-RC Builds 7200 and 7225 of Windows 7 in June 2009. At that time, Microsoft was apparently testing the integration of SP1 into Windows 7 RTM.

Of course, Microsoft continues to be mute on Windows 7 SP1, not to say SP2. The only information available for Windows 7 SP1 comes from third-party sources, some more reliable than others. Such reports reveal that Windows 7 SP1 has passed the pre-Escrow period for the Beta development milestone and is currently in Escrow with the public release planned for April 2010. Following Windows 7 Beta, Microsoft will reportedly offer early adopters a Release Candidate of the service pack, and will RTM the bits in the second half of 2010.