Microsoft Sets Release Date for Vista SP1

[Sunite]

Microsoft Sets Release Date for Vista SP1
By Mark Long
August 29, 2007 11:22AM

   Digg It!   Bookmark to You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
Some companies see Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista as a milestone for deployment, so the earlier Service Pack 1 gets out, the earlier they'd start to deploy Vista, said Gartner vice president Michael Silver. Those most affected by the delay of Service Pack 1, he said, could be organizations that had planned to start deploying in the second quarter of 2008.

Related Topics
   Windows
   Vista
   Microsoft
   Service Pack
   Updates

Latest News
   Notebooks Drive Massive Growth at HP
   AT&T Buys Pay-Per-Call Search Firm
   Can Salesforce Become a Platform?
   SAP Cuts Ties with Execs at Subsidiary
   Vodafone Balks at T-Mobile iPhone Deal
Advertisement

Advertisement

   Microsoft Relevant Products/Services will release the Service Pack 1 update for Windows Vista in the first quarter of 2008, according to product manager Nick White, who is working on the Windows Vista team.

"But as always, we're first and foremost focused on delivering a high-quality release," White said in a blog posting on Wednesday. "So we'll determine the exact release date of SP1 after we have reached that quality bar."

Although SP1 for Vista originally had been scheduled for a late 2007 release, the delay is not expected to have a major impact on the plans of enterprises, said Gartner Client Computing research vice president Michael Silver.

"Many companies have not yet started to deploy Vista because of application compatibility issues, or even just application support issues -- meaning that the application may work but the vendor does not support it," Silver said.

Deployment Milestone

"Some companies use SP1 as a milestone for deployment, so the earlier SP1 gets out, the earlier they'd start," Silver noted. "But for the most part, most companies would not be ready to start a move this year anyway."

The users most affected by the delay could be organizations that had planned to start deploying in the second quarter of 2008, Silver noted. If SP1 could have shipped in this year's fourth quarter, "they'd be in good shape, but a slip means that they will have a tight timeline if they want to deploy with SP1 in the second quarter," he explained.

Companies that are already running Vista will eventually need to deploy SP1, but there's not a lot for them to do right now, Silver observed. "Certainly, if they're having issues, they may want to look at the betas, and SP1 will represent another round of testing," Silver explained.

Microsoft, for its part, maintains that enterprises do not need to wait for SP1 to begin deploying Windows Vista, and is encouraging I.T. shops to begin Vista evaluation and deployment now by using several migration tools it has developed specially for this purpose.

No Need To Wait?

Vista SP1 will address the feedback on performance that Microsoft has received from its customers since the operating system's initial debut. The software giant said it has been "making steady progress" toward resolving application compatibility issues with antivirus and virtual private network applications. The company also said it is in the process of expanding its device driver coverage.

A small group of testers has already been putting a preview of Vista SP1 through the paces in advance of a broader release. "We think it's better for both our customers and for Microsoft to keep the beta program small at the start," White explained. "A later prerelease of SP1 will be available to a larger group of testers via MSDN and TechNet subscribers."

So how long should businesses wait to deploy Vista? "Someone planning to start Vista later this year should not wait, unless it's convenient," Silver concluded. "If they're bringing in new PCs in December and had planned to run Vista, running XP instead may not make sense."