Tech ARP reports that Windows Vista SP2 might be delayed until March. Microsoft will deliver a Release Candidate of Windows Vista Service Pack 2 in March and not in February. Also, Microsoft will send the service pack build to OEM and retailers only in the second quarter of 2009 and not in April.Below are the scheduled dates as predicted by TechARP:
Image Courtesy: Tech ARP
The time delay between RTM and Public Versions release is hard to predict as there was a delay of 2 weeks between Windows XP SP3's RTM and Public Versions and 6 weeks delay in case of Windows Vista SP1.
Microsoft is releasing a Release Candidate (RC) Escrow Build in February instead of the normal RC build. The Escrow Build is a build where development halts and developers & beta testers start testing the product for any show-stopper bugs.
Microsoft has announced that it is not mandatory for OEMs to install Windows Vista SP2 and is marked as an optional install. This clearly shows that Microsoft indeed wants everybody to move to Windows 7. Many OEMs will be hesitant about spending more money and effort for qualifying new builds with their products. It becomes the sole responsibilty of the consumer now to update to Vista SP2.
In a nutshell, Microsoft has delayed the Windows Vista SP2 release by a month and who knows, you might get another Windows 7 build in the mean time!
However, the big question now is: Will you be installing Windows Vista SP2 or Wait for Windows 7?
What a idiotic "big" question: You should ALWAYS install a Service Pack, regarless of anything else then wait for Windows 7.
If you had Vista installed, you would probably see a closer program compatability between SP2 and Win7. Although they aren't the same code line for line, some of the performance changes are within SP2.
If a company were to move (or at least migrate a small number) and spot a problem, it would be a advanced warning to Win7.
Also, it's not like they are going to update to Windows7 as soon as it arrives. Sp2 would be a safer bet than leaving SP1 until they change over to Windows 7 perhaps a year from release.
If you worked in a networked production environment, you'd see why. A service pack is something that requires testing with existing software before deployment. In fact, EVERY update Microsoft releases (the weekly updates for instance) should be tested, though not as thoroughly as a SP.
I work at a school with 500 Windows clients, all of which are running Vista, and all of which would benefit in some way from SP2. However, I still have to test every piece of software on every image before it gets deployed. And even then, it will only be deployed as part of the re-image for the '09-'10 school year. So this news is actually bad for me, as the freeze for testing on my images happens the first week in May. Hopefully the RC will at least be on time and I can run it through the paces with that....and hope for a final release shortly before my deadline. If I miss it, it won't make it to the faculty, and they'll just have to wait until the summer of 2010 (hopefully) for Windows 7 deployment.
And in what I just typed there, that's almost 4 months worth of work, in part due to the need to test all software after a major update such as SP2. If it weren't for SP2, I'd just update my images from last year and be able to move on to other projects.
Same. I'll be installing SP2 unless the RTM build of 7 magically appears.
All my machines are still running Windows XP, I'd run Win2000 (the most superior Microsoft O/S) if all the drivers were easily available for new machines.
Seriously though, while I am enjoying the Beta, it is starting to get on my tits a bit, with menu items disappearing and gadgets failing. I might got back to SP2 for a few months and wait till 7 is ready for prime time.
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