Today, you can now download Windows Vista SP1 via Windows Update.  For those of you eager to receive the benefits of Windows Vista SP1, you can now do so.  We've seen quite a bit of questions in our comments so we want to communicate as much as possible surrounding Windows Vista SP1 and today's release to Windows Update as we can.

For those of you happy to wait, sit tight because SP1 will start downloading to PCs automatically beginning in mid-April (remember, this happens only if you have your Windows Update configured to automatically download updates and SP1 will automatically download but not automatically install).  But if you want to get the benefit of a year's worth of improvements right now, go check Windows Update today (hit the Start Menu, All Programs, and select Windows Update).

If in running Windows Update you do not see Windows Vista SP1 listed, there are a number of good reasons for this (eight, in fact -- see the whole list).  Below are a few of the most common reasons why you might not see SP1 on Windows Update:

• You have not yet installed all the prerequisite packages you need for Windows Vista SP1. 

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I use about 2-3 different PCs throughout the week for work - including my laptop when I travel away from the office. In doing this - I have files scattered on multiple PCs. I'll go to one PC and find I need a file from another PC. So to make sure all my PCs are in-sync with all the important files I need and use - I use Windows Live FolderShare. Windows Live FolderShare is a service that lets users sign-in to set up Libraries that consist of folders on multiple PCs. These Libraries are synced using the Windows Live FolderShare client that sits on each PC. Users can have multiple Libraries setup as well as Shared Libraries with friends.

Today, the FolderShare Team is shipping a Beta Refresh of both the Windows Live FolderShare website and client that offers some great improvements to the Windows Live FolderShare service at http://www.foldershare.com/. Those improvements include:

• Improved usability with the Windows Live FolderShare website - UI aligns with other Windows Live services.
• Updated Windows Live FolderShare Client.
• Back-end improvements.
• Full Windows Vista support with updated Windows Live FolderShare Client.

Today's Beta Refresh supports Windows Live FolderShare's already supported countries and

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The Internet Explorer team hit an important milestone today and divulged as much at MIX08.  IE's General Manager Dean Hachamovitch today announced the availability of IE8 Beta 1, downloadable for testing by all from here.

You can read more on IE8 at the IEBlog, where Dean explains eight specific advances comprised in IE8.

Soon Brandon will have a post up on the Windows Experience Blog talking about his experience using IE8 Beta 1 and what's new in it, so watch for that.

You can get the latest on MIX08 taking place this week in Las Vegas via MIX08 Online.

Hello IT Pros!

February 27 is a big day.  Windows Server 2008 will be officially launching in Los Angeles with Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, kicking off in just a few hours. 

In support of this very important technology milestone as well as the Windows Vista SP1 release, the Microsoft Solution Accelerators Team has just released the third-generation of the agent-less infrastructure assessment platform called Microsoft Assessment and Planning Solution Accelerator 3.0 (or simply MAP).  Through the use of remote WMI calls and secure inventory engines, the MAP tool enables you to quickly inventory a wide variety of networks (AD-managed, IP ranges, and workgroups), securely assess IT environments of servers, desktops, applications and devices, and auto-generate specific and actionable reports and proposal documents in a matter of hours.

 

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE BLOG POST...

GO HERE TO DOWNLOAD MICROSOFT ASSESSMENT AND PLANNING (RTM BITS)

Thank you,

Baldwin Ng (Sr. Product Manager, Microsoft Assessment and Planning)

Today Windows Live SkyDrive leaves the "Beta" tag behind - introducing 5GB of storage for its users and becoming available in 35 new countries and regions. Read the Windows Live SkyDrive launch announcement from their team blog!

On top of being available to users in the United States, United Kingdom, and India, Windows Live SkyDrive is now available in the following 35 countries and regions:

Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Finland, Guatemala, Honduras, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, and Turkey.

With 5GB of storage, you can store quite a bit of your photos, music, Office documents and more. Did I mention that the 5GB of storage is also free?

For those who have been beta testing Windows Live SkyDrive - with today's launch you can expect to see improvements with the backend that help improve performance on top of the increase to 5GB of storage from 1GB previously.

Here on the Windows Experience Blog, I use Windows Live SkyDrive to host the OPML files for my ...

Hi, Mike Nash here from the Windows Product Management group at Microsoft.  Today we are excited to announce that we have released Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista to manufacturing (RTM) for our first set of languages (English, French, Spanish, German and Japanese).

Service Pack 1 is a very important milestone because it addresses many of the key issues that our customers have identified with Windows Vista over the last year both, directly and through programs like the Customer Experience Improvement Program.  With Service Pack 1, we have made great progress in performance, reliability and compatibility.  One of the great things about my job is that I get to play with the latest builds of our products — I’ve personally been running Windows Vista SP1 pretty exclusively for a few months and I’ve noticed that my systems run faster and more reliably than they did with the “Gold” release of Windows Vista.

When we first released Windows Vista last year, there were lots of customers who had great experiences, but some had issues finding applications that worked well on Windows Vista; others had problems finding the right device drivers for some of the hardware devices that they used.  The

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