Microsoft has released the Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) ‘Release Candidate’ (RC). This is the last step before the official SP1 is released in the first quarter of 2008. Note that this is still not official code, so there could still be bugs (but hey, there will still be bugs in the official release as well). If you install this, you will most likely need to remove it before installing the final release.

If you have a fast network connection, the easiest way to install will be with one of the stand-alone installers, which include everything you need to get rolling. Just pick which one you need, based on if you are running 32-bit (most common) or 64-bit, and what language you are using (choose from the last two if you use multiple languages).

• 32-bit in English, German, Japanese, French, Spanish
• 64-bit in English, German, Japanese, French, Spanish
• 32-bit in 36 Windows Vista languages
• 64-bit in 36 Windows Vista languages

The other way to get it (beside the inevitable P2P connections) is to download it directly through Windows Update. Microsoft describes it as ‘Experience the WU based Vista SP1 installation

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Today we’re making available the release candidate (RC) of Windows Vista SP1 via Microsoft Connect, and tomorrow subscribers to TechNet and MDSN will have access to those RC bits too.  In addition, the RC will be available to the public next week via Microsoft’s Download Center. The release candidate phase of beta software is typically the final phase before the RTM (release-to-manufacturing) of a product and indicates that the code has attained a significant level of performance and stability.

Let me call out several changes made since the Beta release of Service Pack 1 — many of which came about as a result of direct feedback from our Beta-testing community (thank you!):

• The size of the standalone installers have decreased significantly. For example, the standalone installer packages consisting of all 36 languages (x86 and x64 chip architectures) are smaller by over 50%. The standalone installer packages consisting of just the 5 languages (again, x86 and x64) slated for initial release are more than 30% smaller in size.
• The required amount of disc space for SP1 installation has also decreased significantly. Furthermore, with the RC, if more space is required to install SP1, an error message will now display exactly how much space is needed

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Windows XP Service Pack 3 Release Candidate build is live. Microsoft is hammering away at the third and final service pack for Windows XP, and is making consistent headway in the matter. Truth be told, since the 2004 availability of XP SP2, and after the numerous delays of SP3 across 2006 and 2007, Service Pack 3 is long overdue. But at the same time, the refresh is getting closer and closer at a fast pace. Microsoft has in fact synchronized the development milestones of Windows Server 2008, formerly codenamed Longhorn, Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows XP SP3.

The third service pack for XP was initially introduced as a Beta preview version concomitantly with Windows Vista SP1 pre-Beta in mid July 2007. Ever since that point, Vista SP1 and XP SP3 have been joined at the hip. In this regard, Vista SP1 moved into Beta stage at the end of September 2007, with XP SP3 Beta following closely behind in early October. Last week, Microsoft opened up the test driving process of Vista SP1 with a preview of the first Release Candidate to the service pack shipping to approximately 15,000 testers. (more…)

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