Windows 7 Home Basic The shroud of secrecy is lift

Soon after almost a year of hemming and hawing more than how and when to acknowledge publicly its plans for Windows Vista Services Pack (SP) 1, Microsoft finally launched on August 29 its officially-approved schedule and function set for your awaited update.
Vista SP1 will go to about ten,000 to 15,Windows 7 Home Basic,000 selected beta testers by mid-September, officials said. The SP1 beta build might be made accessible to these testers for download kind the Microsoft Connect internet site. A broader public beta of SP1 is likely around the time Microsoft delivers a release-candidate check create with the support pack, officials stated, although declining to provide a timeframe for that construct. The last “gold” release of SP1 is now slated for some time in Q1 2008.
Microsoft told chosen testers earlier this summer it planned to release the last Vista SP1 in November 2007, about the same time as Windows Server 2008 went to manufacturing. Microsoft also announced on August 29 that it has delayed the release to manufacturing of Windows Server 2008 until Q1 2008.
The promised function set for Vista SP1 is the same as the one Microsoft outlined earlier this summer when it first told picked testers details about is options for your service pack. General Manager of Windows Product Management Shanen Boettcher mentioned Microsoft options to include in SP1 “all previously launched updates” that the company has rolled out since Vista was released to manufacturing in November 2006. All of the performance and reliability fixes that Microsoft made readily available this summer via two mega Vista hotfix packs will likely be part of SP1.
Microsoft is refreshing “a significant number” (in the company’s words) of Vista components in some way with this company pack, but does not believe application compatibility might be adversely affected as a result, Boettcher said.
About the short list of Vista SP1 features: Support for Direct 3D 10.1
support for Secure Digital (SD) Advanced Direct Memory Access (DMA) to improve transfer performance and decrease CPU utilization
Performance tweaks lessening the amount of time it takes to copy files, shut down and resume Vista machines
Support for ExFat, the Windows file format for flash memory storage and other consumer devices
Improvements to BitLocker Drive Encryption to allow not just encryption with the whole Vista volume, but also locally produced data volumes
The ability to boot Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) on an x64 machine
Improvements to battery life by reducing CPU utilization be “not redrawing the screen as frequently, on certain computers”
Improvements to World wide web Explorer 7 performance by reducing CPU utilization and speeding JavaScript parsing While the final size of Vista SP1 is roughly what Microsoft told testers it was likely to be (45 MB planned, vs. 50 MB actual), this is the size with the SP as it will likely be delivered via Windows Update and Windows Software Update Services (WSUS) only. Standalone SP1 will be one GB for x86 systems. (See my ZDNet blogging colleague Ed Bott’s post for a great deal more on this point.)
Vista SP1 has been in private beta testing with key OEM and Technology Adoption Program (TAP) testers for “a few months,” stated Boettcher. Several of the privately distributed pre-beta builds have leaked more than the summer, in spite of Microsoft’s non-disclosure policies surrounding all information pertaining to SP1.
Going forward — beyond Q1 2008 when it delivers Vista SP1 and the ultimate Windows Server 2008 code — Microsoft is looking to alot more closely sync up the updates it is providing for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. Under a new and evolving
“services model,” Microsoft programs to present customers with constant, regular fixes and updates to Windows client and server.
The goal is to deliver one set of updates that will probably be able to get applied simultaneously to both client and server. This will be possible because Vista and Windows Server 2008 are built atop the same core kernel, Boettcher stated.How and if this new “servicing” model will impact the way Microsoft delivers future company packs for Vista and Windows Server 2008 is yet to be finalized, Boettcher mentioned.
Microsoft still is telling customers not to wait for Vista SP1, and to proceed with testing and upgrades now. Immediately after hearing about what’s coming in SP1, I can’t imagine anyone planning to move to Vista not waiting for SP1.