Why is Microsoft accelerating Service Pack 1?

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However, when you contrast it with Microsoft’s previous Service Pack release pattern, it’s not actually that out of kilter. So perhaps it’s unwise to read too much into the seeming acceleration of its release. The actual explanation could be the simplest: it might just have finished working on it earlier than expected.

Doubt

The other question though is tougher to answer. If you give Microsoft the benefit of the doubt and suggest that there’s nothing pressing needing fixing that would require it to accelerate Service Pack 1, then what’s the point of doing it? Right now, and we’d argue for the rest of the year, Windows 7 has real momentum about it. It’s had an impressive first year, and the signs are that its second is going to be above expectations too.

A Service Pack, therefore, doesn’t seem to be needed in the great scheme of things.

Appreciating that it’s simplifying things somewhat, the news that SP1 is around the corner may result in some people holding off the take up of the operating system until it arrives.

After all, there’s an ethos among many of never adopting a major product until the first full update has been released, yet Microsoft appears to be battling that quite well.

Confidence in Windows 7 is higher than expected, and accelerating the release of a major update can’t really aid that - although the counter-argument is clearly that it may ultimately encourage a second wave of buyers to commit sooner.

Perfection

All this isn’t to say Windows 7 is perfect, of course. There are criticisms that have arisen since it was first unleashed into the world, and Microsoft is likely to be addressing some of those - if you believe the rumour mill, it’s looking to iron out some hefty performance issues.

It’s also set to face some interesting competition before the year is out when Google releases its Chrome OS operating system, and there’s an argument that it needs to get Windows 7 into tip-top shape for then.

Whatever the reason, there’s still no formal word one way or the other from Microsoft. But the feeling remains that we will be getting Service Pack 1 before 2010 is over with, and if that proves to be the case, we should be discovering its contents shortly too.

That, then, may provide the answers for why we’re getting it ahead of schedule after all...

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