14 DAY TRIAL // Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista is getting closer and closer to RTM. Windows Vista SP2 Release Candidate is now available for download, with Microsoft confirming that it is serving the bits through its official channels. MSDN and TechNet subscribers will be the first, according to the Redmond company, to test drive the Release Candidate of Vista SP2, as the service pack has already been made available to Microsoft's developer and IT professional communities. End users will have to wait a tad longer to get access to the public release of Vista SP2 RC.
“This week we are announcing that Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 has hit an important milestone in development: Release Candidate (RC). Starting [on February 25], the RC of SP2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 will be available to TechNet and MSDN subscribers to test prior to final release. In the very near future, we will be making the RC broadly available for anyone to download and test,” stated Brandon LeBlanc, Windows Communications Manager on the Windows Client Communications Team.
Opening up access to the SP2 RC bits to TechNet and Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) members represents nothing more than a broadening of the pool of testers for Windows Vista's next service pack. Fact is that Microsoft has already been offering Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2) Release Candidate (RC) Build 6002.16670.090130 to a close group of testers as early as the past week. The Redmond company plans to make Vista SP2 RC available to the general public next week, with the actual date yet to be announced.
“SP2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 include updates that have been delivered since the release of SP1, as well as support for new types of hardware and emerging standards. As we’ve described since we first talked about SP2, we’ve taken your feedback into account when developing SP2. Specifically, we expect SP2 to continue the security benefits of both products and simplify deployment for our customers,” LeBlanc added.