Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008 betas signal release plans

Microsoft has this week made its Windows Vista Service Pack 1 beta available, as well as the initial release candidate of its long-awaited Windows Server 2008 product.

Enterprise users looking to migrate to the latest version of the Windows operating system have been eagerly anticipating the Vista SP1. The release of a beta version to a selected test group, takes Microsoft one step closer to its launch, anticipated sometime in first quarter of next year.

The beta test release builds on hype surrounding the service pack that began last month, when news that it had made pre-beta code to testers pushed the company to offer a release schedule for the final pack. At the time, Microsoft said the beta code would be released to some 10,000 to 15,000 users this month.

It had also hinted that SP1, which will be distributed as a standalone version for IT administrators or through the automated Windows Update service, would also include improvements to Internet Explorer 7, including its handling of Asynchronous Javascript And XML (Ajax).

Microsoft also yesterday made the initial release candidate of Windows Server 2008, codenamed Longhorn, available allowing customers to download and try the new product for the first time.

It also includes its first release of Viridian, Microsoft's own hypervisor for virtualisation technologies. Microsoft said this should indicate final testing and developing is well underway, in line with the latest, revised release date of the product - announced as a delay last month - from late this year to early sometime in the next.

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