Steven Sinofsky guards Windows Vista Service Pack 1 even more than the blond locks on his head. And under Windows Omerta codename Translucency, the first service pack for Vista is a taboo subject along with Windows Seven and Windows XP SP3. Still, there are leaks over at Microsoft, mere crumbs from the Redmond company's service pack feast, but more than just anodyne information. Due to the process of testing the pre-beta release of Vista SP1, Microsoft managed to leak information related to the service pack, and in the end the actual code itself. Windows Vista SP1 Pre-Beta build 6001.16549.070628-1825 is currently widely available for download over peer-to-peer file sharing networks. Once the service pack is out of Redmond and out of Sinofsky's hands...

But there is one piece of information that seems to be worth even more than Sinofsky's blond and effervescent locks, and that is of course the final release date of Vista SP1. Long Zheng did manage to squeeze some information out of an operator via the MSDN Concierge chat. "As I know the Windows Vista Service Pack 1 will be released in second half year of 2007 and we have not got definitely release date. The beta version is only available internally and there is not public download currently. Even in Connect website, there is not a download," revealed the operator.

Additionally, MSDN Concierge offered confirmation that Service Pack for Microsoft Windows (KB936330); Service Pack for Microsoft Windows (KB937286); Hotfix for Microsoft Windows (KB937287) and Update for Microsoft Windows (KB938371) will all be made available as an integer part of Vista SP1.

The operator failed to disclose the release date of Vista SP1, other than the fact that the service pack will be made available by the end of 2007, although Microsoft only committed to delivering the first public beta of the refresh by November. Still, he did do the next best thing, proving a clue to when Microsoft will offer additional information related to Vista SP1. And it's actually not that far way, just in September. "You may get detail information until TechEd 2007 in Sep 2007. The more details about Windows Vista Service Pack 1 will be released in TechEd 2007," the operator promised.

More information in September, and the first beta by the end of 2007 could possibly point to a final release by the end of the year. However, there is also the alternative to consider, that Microsoft will only deliver the refresh in 2008, after Windows Server 2008.