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SP1 Beta release available today

Today we release the Beta of windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) to a private group of Beta testers via connect.microsoft.com.  Brandon over on the Windows Experience blog has installed and regularly uses SP1 on all of his machines (as do I) and discusses the more notable elements of it.  We'll review some of the changes made in SP1 later this week on the blog; what’s more, our VP of Product Management, Mike Nash, answers questions about Windows Vista and SP1 in a video on Channel9Meanwhile, I invite you to read the SP1 white paper we published last month. 

We also released today five reliability packages via connect.microsoft.com for testing by selected members of the community.  These packages consist of numerous improvements to Windows Vista based on user feedback, and while they will also ultimately be part of SP1, we're working to make them available before the final version of SP1 is released so that your Windows Vista experience is the best we can make it.  But for now, they're still undergoing testing and will come your way once they're ready for prime time.

The same goes for SP1:  keep your eyes peeled and stick with us here on the blog, as we'll let you know how SP1 is progressing.


Comments

  1. Posted on: September 24, 2007 at 5:32PM  

    Interesting

  2. Posted on: September 25, 2007 at 3:54AM  

    ok... so where is it, someone give me a link, i really want to use sp1 i dont care if it got bugs just let me use it, please just give me some invite or something

  3. Posted on: September 25, 2007 at 4:32AM  

    Microsoft can still make some changes for usability:

    1. Windows Explorer and UI changes

    * File types UI/tab back on Folder Options

    * Customizable Standard toolbar back including the much requested "Up" button

    * Simple options to turn on/off autosort/autorefresh and full row selection in any view

    * Option to expand "Connect To" and "Printers" on Windows Vista style new start menu. It's only there in the Classic Start menu.

    2. Optionally display multiple icons for different network connections for quickly disconnecting any one of them.

    3. In Power Options, add an action that asks the user every time what to do when the power button is pressed.

    4. For non-indexed files, make searching inside files for specific strings easier/effective.

    5. Bitlocker in Vista Business because that's the edition most businesses will use and which business laptops are shipping with. And Services for Unix because it is available on XP Professional.

    6. Backup changes

    * EFS files backed up

    * Allow user to configure which files to backup and which to exclude

    7. Desktop.ini files showing on the desktop.

    8. Take a look at the Raves & Rants official MS forum on ShellRevealed.com and fix some minor things which can be quickly fixed.

    Although not related to SP1, why isn't MS releasing PowerToys? Are they cancelled or not planned for Vista at all?

  4. Posted on: September 25, 2007 at 9:47AM  

    I'd like to emphasize the post by 'someone'.   SP1 needs to address some UI issues, usability issues like hiding control panels commonly used by technicians and advanced users.  

    PAALEESE bring back the UP button!  When IE7 came out and was installed on my bosses computer, It was no more than a day and he wanted to know what happened to the menu bar.  Microsoft, get this please, users understand they need to look for the menu bar.  Should I say it again, MENU BAR!  Can you hear me?  MENU BAR!  UP BUTTON!  As a network admin for a Microsoft Partner I need a way to customize Vista (strip it down and conform it to XP...to what people know) so that my business users will not be flooding the help desk with calls about all the stupid UI changes.  I personally consider this SP1 as RC1, Vista is still on trial and the business user jury is ready to hang.  

  5. Posted on: September 25, 2007 at 10:11AM  

    can someone give me an invite to use service pack 1

  6. Posted on: September 25, 2007 at 2:09PM  

    thanks so much Geeking Microsoft, please some how upload it to the mass!!! I really need sp1 please man!

  7. Posted on: September 25, 2007 at 2:11PM  

    i really want to be a beta tester :( if it is possible someone please upload it somewhere

  8. Posted on: September 25, 2007 at 3:22PM  

    Hey viva:  Beta testers are not allowed to redistribute the bits they're given access to via Beta programs, as doing so violates the EULA.  I'll see what I can do about requesting access to the Beta for you.

  9. Posted on: September 25, 2007 at 4:08PM  

    Hey bezee and someone:  thanks for your comments -- I've made note of your feedback and shared it with our Dev team.  

    Note that Power Toys have been replaced by Ultimate Extras.

  10. Posted on: September 25, 2007 at 8:17PM  

    Hi Nick,

    Any chance of requesting an access for the Beta SP1 too? I'm willing to do almost anything to make my work machine more efficient!!

    Thanks!

Trackbacks

  1. Posted by: GottaBeMobile.com on September 24, 2007 at 5:56PM
  2. Posted by: Tech|noob on September 24, 2007 at 6:44PM

    Filed under: Desktops , Laptops Right on cue , Microsoft has made available the (long-awaited) Service

  3. Posted by: Pocket.Net - Mobile 2.0 on September 24, 2007 at 6:57PM

    Microsoft has expanded its Beta testing of Vista SP1 to a larger group of testers. I’ve downloaded

  4. Posted by: TechBlog on September 24, 2007 at 7:40PM

    Chances are you can't have it, but it's out there: Microsoft has released the first beta of Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista. It's only available to a select group of testers, but Brandon LeBlanc of the Vista team...

  5. Posted by: かるあ のメモ on September 24, 2007 at 10:10PM

    SP1 Beta release available today(Windows Vista Team Blog)とWindows Server 2008 RC0版が公開されたらしい(あるSEのつぶやき)より Windows Vista は SP1 で Server 2008 と同じカーネルを搭載する予定となっていますが、 Server 2008 の RC0 と合わせて Vista の SP1 Beta がコネクトからダウンロードできるようになっています。

  6. Posted by: ひろえむの日々是勉強 on September 24, 2007 at 11:17PM

    ConnectサイトにVista SP1のBetaが公開されています。

  7. Posted by: WebLog de Stéphane PAPP [MSFT] on September 25, 2007 at 2:42AM

    Dans le même esprit que la disponibilité de la RC0 de Windows Server 2008, une version beta du service

  8. Posted by: Blog de David Sebban [MSFT] on September 25, 2007 at 4:23AM

      Vu sur le blog de la team Windows Vista Today we release the Beta of windows Vista Service Pack

  9. Posted by: MegaRed on September 25, 2007 at 7:04AM

    Microsoft ha publicado la primera beta del esperado Service Pack 1 para Windows Vista. Nos enteramos de la publicación del esperado pack a través del blog oficial de Windows Vista, aunque lamentablemente este tan solo estará en principio disponible pa

  10. Posted by: Josh's Windows Weblog on September 25, 2007 at 8:22AM

    In case you missed it, Windows Server 2008 RC0 is now available from Microsoft Downloads. Here is a link

  11. Posted by: Gizmodo on September 25, 2007 at 12:39PM

    Windows Vista SP1 Beta available to private testers [Windows Vista Team Blog]...

  12. Posted by: Geeking Microsoft on September 25, 2007 at 1:26PM

    Nick has the details on the Windows Vista SP1 Beta release. I am downloading it now and will provide

  13. Posted by: Technically Speaking on September 25, 2007 at 1:27PM

    Windows Vista SP1 Released to Beta Testers

  14. Posted by: Security Blog di Feliciano Intini on September 26, 2007 at 2:19AM

    ... ma non a tutti, come segnalato in questo post sul blog del team di Windows Vista : in questa fase

  15. Posted by: Routing and Remote Access Blog on September 26, 2007 at 7:14AM

    Hi All, Windows Server 2008 RC0 and Vista SP1 beta has been released to our select TAP and techbeta customers