Windows Vista SP1 and Server 2008 Released to Manufacturing

Yesterday MS released Vista SP1 and Server 2008 to Manufacturing (RTM Versions). That means that Vista SP1 and Server 2008 are available to the public via VLK Customers and OEM only for the next few Weeks.

The final public release for Vista SP1 will be on March 15.

This is it! Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is no longer in development, as Microsoft has released it to manufacturing on February 4, 2008.

Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) was released to manufacturing Feb. 4. and will start being available to customers in March, starting with Microsoft Volume Licensing customers. Windows Server 2008 was also released to manufacturing today and will be available for purchase to new customers on March 1. Microsoft Volume Licensing customers with active Microsoft Software Assurance coverage or an Enterprise Agreement will be able to download the server software toward the end of February as part of the joint Microsoft SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008 “Heroes Happen Here” launch event.

Where: windowsvistablog.com/blogs

blogs.technet.com/windowsserver

microsoft.com/presspass

How: Windows Vista SP1 includes quality improvements that help enhance reliability, security and performance. Windows Server 2008 builds on the success and strengths of past server solutions and helps give organizations a solid foundation for their information technology (IT) infrastructure. Organizations using Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008 together can see a number of improvements for IT professionals, including benefits in security and manageability, overall system performance, and streamlined planning and deployment.

As Windows Server 2008 RTMs, Customers and Partners Adopting with Help of New Tools, Training

Here's the timing for SP1 availability for current Windows Vista users:

* In mid-March, we will release Windows Vista SP1 to Windows Update (in English, French, Spanish, German and Japanese) and to the download center on microsoft.com. Customers who visit Windows Update can choose to install Service Pack 1. If Windows Update determines that the system has one of the drivers we know to be problematic, then Windows Update will not offer SP1. Since we know that some customers may want to update to SP1 anyhow, the download center will allow anyone who wants to install SP1 to do so.

* In mid-April, we will begin delivering Windows Vista SP1 to Windows Vista customers who have chosen to have updates downloaded automatically. That said, any system that Windows Update determines has a driver known to not update successfully will not get SP1 automatically. As updates for these drivers become available, they will be installed automatically by Windows Update, which will unblock these systems from getting Service Pack 1. The result is that more and more systems will automatically get SP1, but only when we are confident they will have a good experience.

* The remaining languages will RTM in April.

From private Source.

Yep, yesterday downloaded Windows server 2008 via Technet. SP1 wasn't posted on technet.