14 DAY TRIAL // Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is continuing its epic march toward general availability. The Full DVD of Vista SP1 ISO can now be downloaded straight from Microsoft. The DVD contains the Windows Vista RTM plus the SP1 integrated bits. Unlike the standalone SP1 download, or the service pack served through Microsoft Update, Windows Update or Automatic Updates, the slipstream version of Vista SP1 contains both the RTM version of Vista and the gold build of SP1, enabling end users to perform a full and single installation.
"Windows Vista SP1 x86 (FULL) is now on the TechNet Subscriber download center. It's the 32bit fully integrated version of the OS. I just downloaded it, burned a DVD and have the install running in a Virtual PC 2007 virtual machine," revealed Keith Combs, Microsoft IT Pro Evangelist. "I compared the size of the .ISO I downloaded from the TechNet subscriber download area to the one I pulled directly from the internal build server. Exact match on number of bytes. Golden goodness. I am also very happy with it's performance in the VM. I'm told most of the speed is coming from Intel VT. Rock and roll baby."
Windows Vista SP1 was released to manufacturing on February 4, 2008, simultaneously with Windows Server 2008. Microsoft subsequently permitted access to the gold build of Vista SP1 to its OEM partners, the beta testers that had a say in building the service pack, Volume License customers, MSDN and TechNet Plus subscribers. The last to get the service pack will be end users starting in mid-March and ending with mid-April. Next month, Microsoft will release Vista SP1 RTM to MU, WU and the Microsoft Download Center, and only in April via Automatic Updates.
But, for Microsoft, some Vista users are "more equal" than others. And not only did the TechNet Plus and MSDN subscribers get Vista SP1 ahead of schedule, but now they also have access to the Vista SP1 fully integrated DVD, an ISO image that can be burned to media and then used to install both the operating system and the service pack in a single shot. The SHA-1 Hash for Vista SP1 RTM ISO on TechNet downloads is bcd715a02739809e477c726ae4b5caa914156429.
"The Windows Vista SP1 fully integrated DVD is only offered through four channels that I am aware of. Full Package Product (FPP), Volume License customer Download Center, TechNet Plus subscriber download center, and MSDN subscriber download center. Now before anyone gets all upset, you can take the original Windows Vista RTM DVD and install it followed by the SP1 download from download.microsoft.com and get essentially the same thing as the integrated DVD experience. There will obviously be an extra install that is performed, but you can clean install pretty quickly," Combs added.