Microsoft has just posted a Blocker tool on its download site (Dec 6,07) that will block automatic installations of several upcoming service packs, including Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows XP SP3. …

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From the Vista Team blog:
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.

Check out the Vista Team blog here!

Go get it!

/Jakob

Microsoft highlighted a number of customer migrations it says signify that users are gearing up to switch to the year-old OS.

Microsoft Tuesday assumed sales of Vista have hit 88 million and the company highlighted a figure of customer migrations it says signify that users are gearing up to change to the year-old OS in spite of recent surveys that say many are taking a careful approach.

Company officials say the ebb and flow of new contracts and expiring contracts means the overall number of volume licensing copies of Vista doesn’t alter radically from quarter to quarter.

In addition to the 88 million copies of Vista sold, Microsoft said 42 million PCs now have Vista licenses via amount licensing contracts signed by corporate users. Microsoft used the same 42 million number back in July when it discussed Vista uptake at its annual meeting for monetary analysts.

The Vista numbers were tabulated during Microsoft’s first fiscal quarter, which ended Sept. 30. The monetary results of that quarter were reported October. 25.

The numbers of copies sold represents nearly a 47% boost over the 60 million copies sold that was reported by Microsoft in July.

Vista shipped to corporate users on Nov. 30, 2006, after five years in development.

A recent survey by King Research, which was funded by systems management vendor Kace, showed that 90% of 962 IT professionals surveyed said they have concerns about migrating to Vista and more than half reported they have no plans to do so.

The respondents showed concerns that Vista would reduce stability and introduce too much complexity into their environments.

“Stability in general was repeatedly cited, as well as compatibility with the business software that would require to run on Vista,” says Diane Hagglund of King Research. “Cost was also cited as a concern by some respondents.”

The report showed the 43% of respondents have considered non-Windows operating systems, such as Linux and Macintosh, to avoid the Windows Vista migration.

A recent Forrester report showed that 52% of respondents have no plans to roll out Vista or don’t know at what time they might do it. The study shows 11% don’t plan to start a even out until 2009, and another 6% are waiting until 2010.

The study also shows that 88% of companies with 5,000 to 20,000 users have standardized on XP. In fact, stipulate for XP is still so strong that users forced Microsoft in September to extend XP’s availability another five months.

Microsoft’s continued hopefulness over Vista adoption is likely in part fueled by the fact that it plans to ship Vista Service Pack 1 around the end of February 2008.

Last week, it released an RC Preview of SP1 to 15,000 testers.

Service Pack 1 is historically a milestone many users wait for before they consider migrating to a new Microsoft operating system.

Source: networkworld.com

Microsoft is hard at effort beating away at the first service pack for Windows Vista.

But at the equal time the Redmond company is test driving the refresh in order to estimate the evolution of development milestone releases in respect to the quality standard that will recommend SP1 for the final open. Just the past week, a preview of the first release Candidate of Vista SP1 went to just about 15,000 testers. Still, Microsoft is also hosting on-location events focused around Vista SP1.

With just 88 million copies of Vista shipped to channel partners global, White felt the need to clarify SP1. “What is Windows Vista SP1? Windows Vista SP1 is an update to Windows Vista that addresses feedback from our clientele. In addition to formerly released updates, SP1 will contain changes inattentive on addressing specific reliability and performance issues, sustaining new types of hardware, and adding support for numerous emerging standards. SP1 also addresses some management, deployment and support challenges”, he stated.

Last month, Microsoft was the host of a Windows Vista SP1 Beta Install fair in Redmond. At the opening of December, the company is doing a recur of the event, but this time at the Silicon Valley property. If you are in the area, and want to try Vista SP1 first hand directly from Microsoft, then all you have to do is send an email at vsp1reg@microsoft.com in order to register for the Windows Vista Install Fair. All participants will pace away with a copy of Office 2007.

“The goals of the Install Fair are to: upgrade your system that is already running Windows Vista with unusual (to MS) applications, configurations and devices to pre-release (Beta) version of Windows Vista SP1; acquire priceless feedback about the Windows Vista SP1 Beta Windows Update and standalone install knowledge from the broader community; and send attendees away with a functional Windows Vista SP1 Beta operating system”, White added.

A

Making headway with the expansion of the first service pack for Windows Vista, Microsoft has made accessible for download a new testing landmark of the refresh. On November 14, 2007, the forthcoming service pack for Vista evolved into the Release Candidate stage. but, as the label of the testing build indicate, the fully fledged RC is yet to come, as Microsoft is contribution just a taste of the Vista SERVICE PACK1 Release Candidate. While early reports related to the development of Vista Service Pack 1 pointed to the accessibility of a public version concurrently with the Release Candidate period, this is not the case. But Microsoft did expand the testing pool in comparison to the beta launched in the last week of September.

Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Release Candidate is build 6001.17042. Vista SERVICE PACK1 RC is up for grab for over 15,000 testers. The first beta for the service pack was dropped into the laps of in surplus of 12000 testers, on September the 24th.

Vista SERVICE PACK1 Beta Build 6001.16659 shipped to participants in the testing process of the development milestones of Windows Server 2008 and Windows XP Service Pack 3. Vista Service Pack 1 Release Candidate can also be accessed entirely through Microsoft Connect, even though the Redmond Company did slip up and formed signs indicating that the build would be opened to all MSDN subscribers.

The Redmond company failed to provide any supplementary details associated to Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Release Candidate Preview Build 6001.17042. Still, at this point in time, judging by the occurrence at which test versions of the service pack have been increasingly released, Microsoft is advancing at fast Service Packeed toward the final Vista SERVICE PACK1 planned for the first quarter of 2008, in tandem with Windows Server 2008. A unrestricted build of a pre-final version of Windows Vista SERVICE PACK1 remains but a promise from Microsoft, without any substance as of yet.

While it is clear that the service pack will ultimately hit MSDN, it is still unclear if the corporation will open up a future test build of Vista SERVICE PACK1 to a much broader audience. concurrently with the drop of Vista SERVICE PACK1 RC, Microsoft declined to comment in any manner on the opportunity of a public pre-final Vista SERVICE PACK1 (according to Mary Jo Foley), or a timetable for Vistas availability.