Vista Service Pack 1, Server 2008 News

Although most people have been singing Microsoft's praises for the release of much-beloved Halo 3, computer junkies are still hankering for some good 'ol PC love. Not to be overshadowed by the final trilogy in the Halo universe, Microsoft has announced a few juicy details on operating system news, the juiciest being beta testing for Vista Service Pack 1.

The Redmond-based company recently announced it had released the beta version of the very first Service Pack for Windows Vista to some 12,000 testers. That's a week or two late, considering in August it stated plans to begin testing within a few weeks. Regardless, users of Vista will be happy to know that Service Pack 1 intends to fix a milieu of problems, from bugs to performance issues, to compatibility concerns. Service Pack 1 also boasts a few new features; according to CNET News, "the ability to encrypt multiple hard drive partitions using Vista's BitLocker feature." (Source: news.com)

Okay, so no Halo fans are going to be impressed with that. But a more stable Vista makes everyone happy.

Other news surrounds a near-final "release candidate" for Windows Server 2008. This version should be available from Microsoft's web site by the time of publishing, although the complete version of Server 2008 still won't arrive until, you guessed it, 2008. Also critical to this release is the availability of Windows Server Virtualization, or WSV.

According to Ward Ralston, senior technical product manager for Windows Server, "Not only does this milestone indicate that Windows Server 2008 is ready to march down the path to [Release to Manufacturing]...but it also is the first time WsV will be part of the code base and available to everyone". (Source: entmag.com)

In a year that's been clouded in controversy for Microsoft (who would expect less), one really good week must be quite the relief for Redmond.