Windows Vista SP1 availability for technical customers

On Monday (February 4th), we announced the release to manufacturing (RTM) of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1). Overall, people are excited to hear that we have reached this milestone, but some are disappointed they are not able to immediately download it.

In my blog post on the subject, I noted that we were going to make SP1 available to customers in stages to make sure we delivered a great experience. As I explained, one reason for this is that we are working through an issue with a small set of hardware devices that may not function properly after the Windows Vista-based PC they are installed on is updated to SP1. This is an issue with the way the device drivers were re-installed during the SP1 update process, not with the drivers themselves -- these drivers worked on Windows Vista RTM and they work on Windows Vista SP1. For new PCs with Windows Vista SP1 pre-installed, this is not an issue.

We are working with the manufacturers of these devices to get the drivers and their install programs updated, and also working on other solutions we can use to ensure a smooth customer experience when updating to SP1 over Windows Update.

My blog post also noted that when beta testers encountered this issue, the problem was typically corrected by simply uninstalling and reinstalling the driver. This type of issue can be addressed by our more technical customers since they are comfortable reinstalling drivers. While most people think that it's smart that we are releasing SP1 in stages, some people asked why we haven't made SP1 available to technical customers sooner.

We've heard the feedback and I want to update you on our plans and progress for making SP1 available to our beta participants, our Volume Licensing customers, and our MSDN/TechNet Plus subscribers:

• Late Friday we made SP1 RTM available to individuals and companies who participated in the SP1 beta program
• At the end of this week we will be making the English version of Windows Vista SP1 available to Volume Licensing customers. Other languages will follow soon after
• Later this month, SP1 will be available to MSDN and TechNet Plus subscribers

For broad availability, we are still planning to release in mid-March, since we want to be sure that everyone has the smoothest experience possible.

I want to be super-clear on one point: Windows Vista SP1 is final. It has been fully released to manufacturing and we do not plan to make any changes to the SP1 code prior to public availability. We are confident in the quality of Windows Vista SP1 and know that it will help improve our customers' experiences with Windows Vista.
Our goal here is to address the needs of our customers while delivering the best experience. Please keep the comments coming. We are listening!

Source:- Windows Vista Team Blog : Windows Vista SP1 availability for technical customers

I have just checked connect.microsoft.com and can confirm that SP1 RTM + the WU Script is there

OK....so how would I get a hold of this ?

Any way to get the ISO, as I have several Vista systems at home...

Not yet but very soon

>> Our goal here is to address the needs of our customers while delivering the best experience. Please keep the comments coming. We are listening!

No, you're not listening. You say you are but your words are empty. The service pack is final. Make it available to everyone now. Period. What you're doing now is forcing people to the P2P networks to get what they want. That's not a good thing.

>> I noted that we were going to make SP1 available to customers in stages to make sure we delivered a great experience. As I explained, one reason for this is that we are working through an issue with a small set of hardware devices that may not function properly after the Windows Vista-based PC they are installed on is updated to SP1.

Fine. I recommend full disclosure of the issue. Let your customers (read: me) know which devices are having the problem and I'll decided for myself whether I want to install the SP.

>> For broad availability, we are still planning to release in mid-March, since we want to be sure that everyone has the smoothest experience possible.

I recommend less corporate speak and more straight talk. I have less confidence in you when you communicate to me (read: the customer) this way.


Here's some straight talk for you. I think it's an absolute joke that you're slow rolling this critical piece of software. The people that are actively looking for it are the people that are smart enough to figure out how to download and install it and work around the driver issues that are holding back this update. The people you're afraid of are the people that don't know anything about SP1 and will get it via Windows Update whenever you push it to them, the same people that won't go looking for it when you post it for download. By all means, take your time with them. Make sure their experience is good. You certainly don't want to upset the mainstream user.

Bottom line: you're making your more technical customers wait for an important update and you're upsetting them.

I hope I've made myself clear. If not, maybe you could read this.

any release date for for SP1 with norwegian?? astimateed release date maybe?

OK......I am on connect.microsoft.com and can not find the WU script for RTM SP1 or the ISO...what am I missing here ?

OK...I can not seem to find it there...mind posting a url ?

Do you have a beta tester login?