The Redmond company is sending out invitations to the beta program for the Windows Vista Service Pack 1 via Microsoft Connect. According to the email from the Windows Beta Team, the invitation focuses on expanding the testing pool for the first service pack for Vista to the participants of the current Windows Server 2008 beta program and nothing more. Microsoft underlined the fact that Vista SP1 beta was not made available for download via Connect and failed to reveal if this will be the case in the future. Initial information made available to the general public by Nick White, Microsoft Product Manager, pointed to the availability of Vista SP1 Beta for download to MSDN and TechNet subscriber by mid September. Otherwise Microsoft Connect seems to not be involved in the delivery of the full beta release of Vista SP1.

"We are pleased to offer you an early preview of Microsoft Windows Vista SP1 by extending this invitation to join the Windows Vista SP1 beta program. Your participation is completely voluntary. Program participants will preview Windows Vista SP1. If you choose to participate you will have the opportunity to provide Microsoft with feedback as we continue work on this exciting new release. Please note that we have not made the Windows Vista SP1 Beta available on Microsoft Connect. The purpose of this email and survey is to ensure our current Windows Server 2008 beta participants have a first chance at participation. Successful participants will be notified via email when the Windows Vista SP1 Beta is available," revealed the Windows Beta Team as cited by Neowin.

If you are already a participant in the Windows Server 2008 beta program and have received the invitation you'd better hurry and accept it if you are keen on accessing Vista SP1 Beta. Microsoft informed that the build planned for the coming couple of weeks will be served only to approximately 10,000 to 15,000 testers. Currently Microsoft plans to launch the final version of Vista SP1 in the first quarter of the coming year, following the release of Windows Server 2008 at the end of February. The company also confirmed that a public beta of the service pack will be offered to Vista users around the time that the refresh will hit release candidate 1 stage.

"Confirming Your Interest in Participation
1. Go to http://connect.microsoft.com
2. Sign-in using your Connect LiveID credentials.
3. Click on [My Participation] from the left-hand menu.
4. Click on [Windows Server 2008 Beta].
5. Click on Surveys from the left-hand pane.
6. Scroll down and select the "Windows Vista SP1 Beta Opportunity for Windows Server 2008 Beta Participants" survey.
7. Ensure your contact information in your profile is set to "Yes". (Note: The survey is showing a screenshot of the dialog box and is not editable. You must click on the link to go to your profile and edit your contact preferences).
Thank you for your participation and we look forward to hearing what you have to say about the Windows Vista SP1," reads the final fragment of the email for Vista SP 1 Beta participation.