Breaking News: Windows Vista SP1 Availability Dates

This just in...

Mike Nash just announced on the Windows Vista Team Blog some specific availability dates for Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1). 

As you probably know, Windows Vista SP1 RTM'd the same day as Windows Server 2008 (Feb 4, 2008), but while Windows Server 2008 was made available to TechNet and MSDN subscribers, SP1 was not. 

Reasons were many - basically boiling down to some drivers that weren't written to handle the update very well, so they need to be reinstalled after SP1 is applied.  Not difficult for geeks like us; but to your Mother-in-Law, it's a problem.  A big hairy frustrating problem (no reflection on your Mother-in-Law.  Or mine, for that matter).  So the delay in making it generally available is to give those driver manufacturers a chance to remedy the situation... make an update available via Microsoft Update or through their own update mechanisms.

Still, I understand the frustration.  RTM.  It's "shipped".  It's ready.  And if it's every bit as good as Microsoft says it's going to be.. you want it.  Now.

And the outcry from the technical community-at-large was heard.  The availability dates for the technical audiences were actually moved up from when they were originally scheduled for.

"Enough explaining! When can I get it?!"

If you were a Vista SP1 Beta tester for us, you can download it right now.

Volume Licensing customers will have the English version available on Friday of this week (February 15, 2008).  Other languages will be available soon after.

And those of you with an MSDN or TechNet Subscription will be able to get it later this month.  (Another really good reason why you should have a TechNet Subscription.)

You can read Mike Nash's posting about the announcement here.