RSSService Pack 2 for Vista and WS2K8 released to manufacturing
By Scott M. Fulton, III | Published April 29, 2009, 10:27 AM
In what's turning out to be a busy week for Microsoft, the company announced last night that the code has been finalized for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 -- a unified code base that upgrades both operating systems. This after the only release candidate for SP2 was released for final testing on March 4.
In a Betanews check Wednesday morning, SP2 was not yet being distributed to MSDN and TechNet subscribers, although we can probably expect to see it turn up there in the next few days.
Windows Media Center users are especially looking forward to SP2 since it will contain the update that enables Media Center to write content to Blu-ray Discs. Prior to SP2, even users with BD-R recorders could only write to DVD.
But one big feature Microsoft is finally adding for all Vista users -- something that Windows XP users have actually had since SP2 in late 2004, but that wasn't officially available for Vista -- is a Wi-Fi configuration feature called Windows Connect Now (WCN). For years, Microsoft has invited manufacturers of routers and other networking equipment to participate in a program it ironically dubbed "Windows Rally," whose aim was to enable Windows to automatically configure new network devices once they first become visible. Although the feature works fairly well in XP SP2, only certain Vista users were exposed to it -- for example, in a Vista Feature Pack exclusively for Dell computers.
A fully developed Vista version of WCN was created in 2007 with the intention of distributing it with SP1. Users who added a Wi-Fi router to their networks would find a special PIN number located on a sticker (Belkin routers currently feature this sticker on the underside of their foot plates). Entering this PIN into a Vista-based wizard starts the process of generating a network profile for any other devices or computers that may be added to the network later. That profile may then be stored on a USB thumb drive, so when any laptop enters the network, for instance, the profile may be acquired from the thumb drive inserted into that laptop, and setup becomes automatic.
Well, Microsoft has finally rallied, so to speak, and the feature will finally be standard equipment for Vista wireless network users. Other new features Microsoft alluded to for the first time yesterday include improved compatibility with third-party security products, including (say it with me...at long last) ZoneAlarm.
3:25 pm EDT April 29, 2009 - A Microsoft spokesperson told Betanews this afternoon that the Vista SP2 RTM will only be distributed to OEMs initially, and would only give Q2 2009 as the timeframe for a public distribution.
3/4 the comments here are retarded. almost know one seems to know the history of MS SPs nor do they understand what "RTM" actually means. It's to give OEMs a chance to fully test it and then give them time to create images for their new products so they'll have new Service Pack models out at the same time the public gets the SP. it's not like anyone here couldn't download it anyway, it's just not pushed through Microsoft Update nor publicly posted on MS' website.
and W7 is in no way a reskin of Vista...should it have been a service pack for vista? i cant answer that, but it's certainly better than anything a historical SP has done to any MS OS.
btw the XP -> Vista release schedule was an exception, not the norm. MS has always released OSes every 2-3 years, which puts W7 right on historical track. there's more differences between Vista and W7 than there were b/w Win98 and ME...
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|Download is available on MSDN now! dated 04-30-2009
en_fr_de_ja_es_windows_vista_sp_and_windows_server_2008_sp2_x86_x64_ia64_dvd_342431.iso
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|heard of "tiny url"?
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|Won't install for me.
Errors out with: Windows Update error 80070643
M$ says it's the Office Service Engine. I followed their instructions to fix it, even though it was already set as the fix suggested.
No go, now I have the SP2 and 11 other Office 07 updates that won't install.
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|What are the Beta testers going to do, hopefully have to run on sp1 for a month or two ????????????????????????????????
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|well, i'm a bit curious if sp2 is really needed.
i thought win7 (upgrade) was going to be the update to vista that resolved "all" the funkiness in Vista.
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from a business perspective, it really sounds like microsoft "gotz" too many fires burning and we customers and manufacturers don't know which way is up.
perhaps, what we see from this side of the fence reveals what is really going on behind the entrance gates to microsoft way - chaos and conflicts.
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|Microsoft releasing SP2 to RTM but not making it available for download to its existing customers at the same time makes me think more and more that "I'm fixing to be a Mac".
I'm growing very tired of Microsoft's bulls***!!
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|It's being done that way so that putz Ballmer can do his little dance in ten days or so at that industry media event and announce it then.
All cheap marketing - typical Ballmer.
I rue the day he took control of MS.
Oh and BTW, you can download it off Usenet.
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|They did the same thing with Windows 95 SP1 or was it SP2? Anyway, it was never made available retail, only OEM, Its big claim to fame was FAT32.
At any rate that was Gates, Microsoft is just a arrogant company. If Apple were ever to allow it's software to run on cheap hardware they are at a point they could take Microsoft down in a heartbeat.
Before Vista I never thought I would say that but I am to the point that I really would like to buy a Mac as my next computer and I'm very unlikely to pluck down the bucks for Windows 7.
Not making Vista SP2 available for download immediately after its done doesn't help Microsoft's cause any.
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|wow, are you ignorant or what? Please learn what RTM means and the difference between RTM and release to the general public before you come and make a fool of yourself
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|Menting, RTM means Release To Manufacturing so its the final (Gold) code, and they could post or (release) it for download if they wanted to. You need to quit being a fool before you call someone else one, idiot.
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|Actually, every other release that has gone RTM has waited a bit before hitting the general public. The same thing happened with every other microsoft service pack. OEM's typically get the SP first, then the general public. People who whine like this really need to revisit history and see that this is nowhere near the first time that Microsoft has pushed out an SP, or full OS for that matter, RTM a few weeks prior to it's general public availability.
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|@dougau:
Wow.
Lesson in MSFT release schedules: Beta - RC - RTM - General public release. In that order.
They release it to OEM's first in case there's some major issue that pops up out of the blue prior to the GP release as well as to let OEM's get a head start on configuring the images so they can have "SP2" models out by the time it hits GP.
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|Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain - and most fools do. - Dale Carnegie
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|That's exactly what happened with the Escrow release - a significant bug was found by the OEMs, stomped and the final went gold two days ago. The build numbers match for the projected final release.
So yes, it's done.
And yes, they're sitting on it.
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|you sure are too blind to see the truth. Doesn't matter if the code is gold or not. Release to manufacturing means release to manufacturing for last minute checks on different build configs for the manufacturers. Are you a manufacturer? I don't think so. Your reasoning for code being gold or not doesn't make sense. A code that has gone gold could have been the exact same code that was in a RC. Does that mean the whole general public is supposed to get the RC then?
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|By your own dissertation, they will. RTM god code is RTM god code. Back in the day (and I go back to testing NT 3.1), RTM *was* gold code. If the rhetoric has changed (which wouldn't surprise me - people love to bandy semantics today), well...
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|While it has in the past and still is very rare for RTM code to be changed prior to release, it *has* happened. It's not a general rule that it *will* happen. It's just one final trial by the OEMs prior to general release.
This will be especially humorous when SP2 becomes downloadable and a pushed update.
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|Actually, win 95 SP1 patch was released to the public, win95 OSR2 was not.
Which is what you seem to be refering to, with the statement about FAT32.
OSR2 containted SP1, and other patches, and IE 3.x. other then FAT32 i don't think anything else important made it in there.
Don't get me wrong, i'm not defending MS on OSR2 or anything else released to OEM's and not the general public. I just wanted to make sure we are all on the same page.
In fact SP1, is still on the MS download site http://www.microsoft.com...676b&displaylang=en
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|"They did the same thing with Windows 95 SP1 or was it SP2?"
Yes but it was called OSR2 (as in OEM Service Release) not SP2.
I can understand why MS decided not to release this as a Service Pack. Imagine if someone installed this SP2 converted there system to FAT32 and had some third party utility (such as a disk defrag program) run. Instant disk corruption! That would be begging for trouble. The main reason you needed FAT32 was to support larger hard drive partitions so unless you were installing a new hard drive you really didn't need this update. Hence it was released only to OEM for new computers.
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|As alluded to above, OSR2 wasn't a service pack.
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|The best explanation of the State Of The Onion yet:
http://www.techarp.com/s...px?artno=604&pgno=0
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|How come they give Vista SP2 for free but are going to charge for it when they box it as Windows 7?
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|Oh yeah...it looks different. Reskin and charge another $399 for the Ultimate (ROFL) edition for a single machine.
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|Right...
So why hasn't Stardock made a bundle reskinning Vista so it performs as well or includes the functionality of Win 7?
Oh, right...you're talking out of your a** again. You don't actually know a damned thing about Win7....
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|And Again...Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain - and most fools do. - Dale Carnegie
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|Hey Bogunch. Are you complaining about PC_Tool's comment? At the level of absolute truth, we perceive existence only because of dissatisfaction.
"Non-acceptance reinforces the delusion of separation. The resulting friction is what we call suffering."
-A.Einstein
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|No - the comment was for your alter ego.
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|Nice... eagerly awaiting the MSDN download
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|I'd hardly say that improved compatibility with ZoneAlarm is something to shout about. It's been crap for years.
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|Anyone know if there are any differences between the Escrow RTM and this final?
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