FAQ: Say hello to Vista SP1

Computerworld - After lots of hemming and hawing, obfuscation and obdurate executive attitudes, Microsoft Corp. came clean today, sort of, about Vista's first service pack. The company confirmed a three-month launch window and said it would shortly move Service Pack 1 into a broader beta test.

There are unanswered questions -- when aren't there? -- but we know more today than we did yesterday about SP1, the first major update to Vista, and a package that both Microsoft and its corporate customers have put much faith in -- so much so that there's a lot riding on the success of the upgrade.

With that in mind, we took our first shot at SP1. Certainly, there will be more.

In the meantime, all hail SP1.

So what's the lowdown? when will Windows Vista SP1 roll out in beta, and when in final form? Microsoft is saying only "a few weeks" and "September," which are, after all, one and the same, for the beta. As for the final release, the software maker finally acknowledged rumors circulating since the Google Inc. deal in June that the service pack won't wrap up until the first quarter of next year. Microsoft has kept its lips tight and has officially offered up only that it expected to put a beta into play "sometime this year." Earlier talk had centered on the last quarter of 2007 as the presumed ship time for SP1, but that's clearly not in the cards. The deck used to brief reporters, in fact, included a slide with the line "Release date will depend on confirmation from beta testers," which is essentially what the company said numerous times in 2006 as it worked toward Vista's delayed launch. In other words: Microsoft is leaving itself wiggle room.

Who will get a crack at SP1 beta? You might want to sit down. Microsoft has said that it will seed the September build to between just 10,000 and 15,000 partners and customers. Don't act so surprised. We told you Microsoft almost always does it this way. The beta track regularly runs from private-private to private-public to public-public, with few deviations and no detours. How it plans on doing that is a mystery. Invite only? Concert seating, mad rush to the URL? Lottery?

Microsoft's not saying, not exactly. "The beta will be released to approximately 10,000 private testers that will not include TechNet subscribers," a company spokeswoman said later Wednesday in an e-mail. No specific word that MSDN subscribers would be in the pool or out, however.

OK, I never win anything, so I'm clearly out of luck here. ... Will there be a bigger beta, a public-public? Yeah sure, why not? Actually, Microsoft said it would distribute the beta, or maybe a release candidate, to a larger group between September and the final release. Details? Nothing much, other than that TechNet subscribers would be eligible for the later preview. Oh, and this from the same spokeswoman: "It is too early to discuss any other details."

Why all the fuss about a service pack, anyway? We have a couple of theories -- explanations, actually -- as to why SPs are now very important to the Windows food chain. First, the obvious. The hoary advice to wait for the service pack may be apocryphal, but if it is myth, it has become reality. Microsoft needs to stake out SP1 to convince major customers that it's time to deploy its not-quite-so-new operating system. Sure, they've already paid, or most of them have, for Vista with licensing agreements such as Software Assurance. But the sooner they move to Vista, the sooner they will, presumably, move on to what comes after Vista.