Microsoft picks up Vista SP1 pace

Computerworld - For the second time in two weeks, Microsoft Corp. has released a new build of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) to its invitation-only group of approximately 15,000 testers, giving weight to recent speculation that the final code is close.

The newest version, dubbed Vista SP1 Release Candidate (RC) Refresh 2, was released to testers yesterday, Microsoft confirmed today. "This group includes corporate customers, consumer enthusiasts, software and hardware vendors, and others," a company spokeswoman said. "The code is not available for public download."

Microsoft made the same claim two weeks ago, when on Jan. 11 it unveiled SP1 RC Refresh, saying then that it would keep the build private. Two days later, however, it posted the refresh to the Windows Update service.

Microsoft has repeatedly said it has slated the release of Vista SP1, the long-anticipated first major update to its newest operating system, for the first quarter of the year. This week, however, fueled by a report out of Taiwan that claimed Feb. 15 would be SP1's day, talk intensified of the service pack's imminent release. When asked about the rumors, the Microsoft spokeswoman answered: "The final release date is based on quality, so we will continue to track customer and partner feedback from the beta program before setting a final date."

Microsoft also issued a new build of Windows XP SP3 this week. Tagged as SP3 RC Refresh 2, the update went to the same group of 15,000 testers, and like Vista SP1, was made available via the company's Connect beta site.

An earlier preview of Windows XP SP3 was released to the public about a month ago, and is still available for downloading. XP SP3 is scheduled to go final in the first half of 2008.

Windows XP SP3 has consistently been given shorter shrift by Microsoft. Unlike its public relations efforts via company blogs on Vista SP1, the company has made little effort to broadcast XP SP3's features or changes. In fact, some analysts have noted that the biggest barrier to Vista adoption is the continued devotion of business customers to Windows XP. In November, for instance, Forrester Research Inc. analyst Benjamin Gray said: "Vista's biggest competition isn't Apple or Novell or Red Hat; it's Microsoft itself, it's XP."