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Microsoft may have soothed the angst of the service pack hungry masses by releasing Vista SP1 to manufacturing, but users won’t be able to actually download it until mid-March at the earliest, company officials said Monday. During beta testing for Vista SP1, Microsoft found that some device drivers were causing problems on systems with SP1 installed. Although the issues can be fixed by uninstalling and reinstalling the drivers, Microsoft decided this would be too complicated for most users. As a result, Microsoft will spend the next month hunting for additional problematic device drivers, said David Zipkin, senior product manager in Windows Client Group.”With drivers, we wanted to make sure when folks upgrade to Vista that they have a smooth experience,” Zipkin said.

In mid-March, Microsoft plans to release Vista SP1 in 5 languages — English, French, Spanish, German and Japanese — through Windows Update and the Download Center, Zipkin said, adding that Microsoft will ensure that SP1 isn’t pushed out to PCs that have the aforementioned drivers installed. In April, Microsoft will begin auto updates of Vista SP1 to users who’ve chosen this option, and will also release the rest of the language specific versions of Vista SP1, Zipkin said. Microsoft has handed off the final Vista SP1 bits to its OEM partners, and if testing goes well, they’ll soon begin building new PCs based on Vista SP1 images. Microsoft has also begun pressing Vista SP1 DVDs for its retail and volume licensing customers.

Source: CRN News