Picked testers are reporting that they;ve received invitations for your Support Pack (SP) 2 betas for Vista and Windows Server 2008.Neowin was initial to acknowledge the delivery with the SP2 invitations. Other testers are now confirming that report. The broader-scale SP2 betas are exptected to start within the following 4 weeks for the new support packs, Neowin says.Some testers — a very select few — already have a test build of SP2 for Vista (not sure if also for Windows Server 2008) in hand, as I noted recently.I;m hearing Microsoft;s goal is to deliver the final version of both SP2s before the company releases
Windows 7, which is expected to be released to manufacturing in the latter half of 2009. Microsoft;s thinking: Getting the next company packs out before the following full releases of Windows client and server will help lessen customer confusion.Neowin says SP2 for Vista will incorporate Windows Search four,
Microsoft Office 2007 Professional, support for that VIA 64-bit CPU and Bluetooth support. SP2 for Windows Server 2008, Neowin adds, will feature backwards compatibility with Terminal Services licensing keys and various performance/manageability features. (I;ve been hearing Microsoft also will fold the Hyper-V bits into Windows Server 2008 SP2.)Microsoft is not commenting on the timing or feature set for either SP2.