Vista SP2 On The Way?

According to rumour, Vista SP2 will be with us before Windows 7 (Which has also been officially named now......as Windows 7) http://www.custompc.co.uk/news/605022/windows-7s-official-name-revealed.html

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Rumors that Microsoft is planning to release SP2 for Vista prior to releasing Windows 7 does not at all seem unrealistic – seeing as Microsoft itself has confirmed that SP2 is indeed in the works. No comment was made of exact time lines, however.

ZoomSome rumors indicate that Microsoft may have already shipped beta versions of SP2 to select hardware and software partners along with early builds of Windows 7. Microsoft has created a place holder Knowledge Base Article on October 2 related to the forthcoming SP2 betas, piquing the interests of anyone who has taken notice.

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“Microsoft’s goal is to deliver both SP2 releases before it delivers Windows 7 in order to lessen confusion among users as to whether to deploy Vista and Windows Server 2008 — or to wait for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (a k a Windows 7 Server). Currently, Microsoft is believed to be attempting to RTM Windows 7 in the second half of 2009. The Softies have said Windows Server 2008 R2 is on track for 2010.” »

« “Because Microsoft is trying to keep Windows client and server code in lock-step, Windows Server 2008 was built around the Vista SP1 codebase. That’s why the first standalone service pack for Server 2008 is being called SP2. As many customers still are reticent to deploy a new OS until the first standalone SP goes out, Microsoft also is pushing to get SP2 for server out there to convince these users to consider upgrading. “

Does anyone else get the feeling Microsoft are flogging a dead horse?

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/microsoft-vista-service-pack,news-29434.html

For those with Vista, SP2 Beta is released tomorrow to the masses.



Notable changes are listed here http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd335036.aspx

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After dishing out a few copies of the BETA of Windows Vista Service Pack 2 to select customers in October, Microsoft has now decided to let the general public get their hands on the BETA of the service pack, starting from tomorrow.

On The Windows Blog Microsoft’s corporate vice president, Mike Nash, revealed that the BETA of Service Pack 2 will be made available through Microsoft’s Customer Preview Program (CPP) via Technet from 4 December. Nash explained that the CPP ‘is intended for technology enthusiasts, developers, and IT Pros who would like to test Service Pack 2 in their environments and with their applications prior to final release.’

Windows Vista Service Pack 2 will include all of the updates since Service Pack 1 was released in March, and it will also contain a few other features. Most notably, Microsoft claims that it ‘improves performance for Wi-Fi connection after resuming from sleep mode,’ which will be good news to anyone who’s suffered the frustration of a dropped WiFi connection after resuming from Sleep mode. The pack also adds ID and vendor strings for VIA’s 64-bit Nano CPU, and the Bluetooth 2.1 Feature Pack.

As well as this, Microsoft says that SP2 will add support for the exFAT file system for large flash memory devices, and that the RSS gadget in the Windows Sidebar will be more responsive. You can find more detail on the improvements in Service Pack 2 at the Notable Changes document here.

Vista SP2 Release Candidate 2 will be out for download next week, the Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista is being released next week in a candidate escrow build after Microsoft has moved up its release schedule for the software, according to a recent TechArp report. The initial wave of the software is now expected to be released a little sooner than previously expected, now at sometime late in April or early in May in its Release to Manufacturing version if no further delays are incurred. In-between, the final release candidate build is now due to be distributed on February 16th.

SP2 includes support for new hardware and emerging standards. The update will allow users to record Blu-ray media natively, have an updated Bluetooth 2.1 feature pack, and add Windows Search 4.0 for faster and more efficient file finding, among others. in Windows Vista. It will also support 64-bit processors from VIA and improve Wi-Fi performance after returning from sleep mode. New capabilities will be added to DirectX, with audio and video performance enhanced to better handle high-definition content.

SP2 is believed to the last major update to the software, meant to give users incentive to upgrade the current Windows operating system before Windows 7 launches in the near term.

well i hope they made it less of a resource hog (a 3rd of my ram to do nothing!!)

Me too, if anything thats my only real complaint about Vista, i doubled it and it still uses a third, i know its meant to use ram more efficiently and give it back as and when but to use 7-800mb when idle is just plain wrong

i just find it mad that you look on the back of a DVD case and vista will require an extra half to a full gig of ram to run a game (seems like a step backwards) (example i was running crysis on my laptop today and i had to kill a load of processes so the soundcard had enough support)

SP2 Release Candidate 1 is now open to the public.

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Windows Server 2008 SP2/Windows Vista SP2 Release Candidate is prerelease code offered to the public through our Customer Preview Program. Please see the Windows Server SP2/Windows Vista SP2 Customer Preview Program page on TechNet/MSDN for additional details, documentation, and forums.

Windows Vista SP2 TechNet
Windows Server 2008 SP2 TechNet

Windows Server 2008/Windows Vista SP2 Release Candidate apply to people, organizations, and technical enthusiasts who are comfortable evaluating prerelease software. This prerelease software is provided for testing only. We do not recommend installing this software on primary or mission-critical systems. Installation of Service Pack 2 Release Candidate will result in Microsoft collecting information about the installation process, even if the installation is not completed. Wet recommend that you have a backup of your data before you install any prerelease software.

SP2 is an update to Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 that addresses feedback from our customers and partners. By providing these fixes integrated into a single service pack, Microsoft provides a single high-quality update that minimizes deployment and testing complexity for customers. In addition to all previously released updates, SP2 will contain changes focused on addressing reliability and performance issues, supporting new kinds of hardware, and adding support for several emerging standards. SP2 will also continue to make it easier for IT administrators to deploy and manage large installations of Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.

Service Pack 1 is a prerequisite for installing Service Pack 2. Please make sure that your system is running Service Pack 1 before you install Service Pack 2.
This is a DVD ISO image contains Service Pack 2 for Windows Server 2008 SP2 for x86, x64, IA-64 and Windows Vista for x86, x64. This image is only applicable to computers that have one or more of the following languages: English, German, French, Japanese, or Spanish. If you have an OS or language pack that is not one of these languages please use the "All Languages" version of Service Pack 2.

Heres the download link http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=0A3D7A63-46AF-4E04-AC8C-91B8BC476450&displaylang=en

Vista SP2 is available for download from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/resultsForCategory.aspx?nr=50&sortOrder=Descending&sortCriteria=Date&period=30&stype=ss_nd&sterm=All+Categories