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[Smokey]

I received this letter from Microsoft today.

Greetings Smokey,
It's been several months since the Windows Vista launch and IT organizations are reporting a more streamlined desktop environment and greater security, management control, and better self-healing capabilities. The results, they say, are higher service levels and a better experience for end users. A big part of this is due to your feedback and the diligent work to consistently reduce the effort required for roll-out preparation. To familiarize yourself with Windows Vista deployment requirements, check out the latest deployment guides and tools. We also have significantly increased the availability of Windows Vista-compatible applications in addition to ensuring that we offer the right guidance through the "Application Compatibility Toolkit" for you to test-drive Windows Vista in your environment right now. There is peace of mind in knowing that ongoing improvements are available dynamically through Windows Update and we also have announced what is coming in Windows Vista SP1 to help you to better plan and continue with your ongoing pilots. The first thing to note is that Windows update is taking care of important incremental fixes and while SP1 delivers enhancements to compatibility and reliability, it will not contain new features. It is built and tested to enable smooth transitions for applications from Windows Vista RTM to Windows Vista SP1. If you want more information on the latest Windows Updates, here are two Knowledge Base articles that address reliability and compatibility: KB 938194, KB 938979.

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Thanks for reading,

Mitch Irsfeld
Editor, TechNet Flash

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[dobhar]

I received this the other day...

Quote

Microsoft Pushes Back Windows 2008, Talks Vista SP1 and XP SP3

A Web Exclusive from Windows IT Pro
Paul Thurrott
Windows IT Pro Perspectives

Last Tuesday, my family and I flew home from a month-long trip to France, and to be perfectly frank, I was looking forward to a quiet Wednesday, which I intended to spend peacefully in a travel-induced near-coma. It was not to be: Awaking early Wednesday morning, I was confronted by a number of alarming Microsoft announcements concerning Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista SP1, and Windows XP SP3. I spent the rest of the day trying to make sense of the events and write about them coherently. Here's what's happening.
First, Microsoft has delayed the release to manufacturing (RTM) of Windows 2008 from late 2007 until the first quarter of 2008. The company was already planning a Windows 2008/SQL Server 2008/Visual Studio 2008 launch event on February 27, so this delay isn't really much of an issue, honestly. Microsoft vaguely notes that the delay is needed so the product can meet its high quality standards, but I think there's something more at work here. Expect another public pre-release build in the coming days that finally features a long-awaited Windows 2008 feature that most people still haven't gotten their hands on yet.

But wait, there's more. You may recall that I've been claiming for a year now that Microsoft told me it would roll out Windows 2008 and the first Vista service pack concurrently. Well, the company is finally owning up to it: Last week, Microsoft revealed that Vista SP1 would indeed ship alongside Windows 2008 in the first quarter of 2008 and that contrary to rumors you may have heard, SP1 won't include any major new features but will instead be a traditional Microsoft service pack.

This is fantastic news, unless of course you were using SP1 as an excuse to roll out Vista. Despite high profile and sensational news stories to the contrary, Vista doesn't appear to be broken in any major way, and the introduction of SP1 early next year won't really change the Vista experience dramatically. Yes, it will include a number of previously released hotfixes, security fixes, and other updates. But Microsoft feels that OS servicing is best handled via its online updating systems (e.g., Windows Update) going forward and that service packs can be relegated to a less important role. I think this is a smart move. If you're interested in more details about this plan, and about the SP1 feature set, I've written up an article on the SuperSite for Windows that goes into more detail. http://www.winsupers...invista_sp1.asp

Vista SP1 is currently in a limited beta and Microsoft will be expanding the beta pool in September to include those who previously beta tested Vista. In late 2007, the company will issue a public pre-release version of Vista SP1 to TechNet and MSDN subscribers.

The final announcement from last week concerns XP SP3, another long-awaited Microsoft service pack. As with Vista SP1, Microsoft had been pretty cagey about XP SP3, and had delayed the release several times. What's astonishing is that there's still some uncertainty around this release. Here's what we know: Microsoft intends to finally ship XP SP3 in the first half of 2008. It will mostly be an aggregation of previous service packs and all the hotfixes and security updates that have shipped since XP SP2. But that's where things get hazy: Microsoft will additionally add a number of small new features to XP via SP3, but the company has yet to firmly state what those updates are. My money is on security and OS hardening technologies, but that's just a guess.