Microsoft Corp. today released the remaining 31 language editions of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) to Windows Update. Today"s move followed the debut of the first five languages -- English, French, German, Japanese and Spanish -- posted by Microsoft to the Windows Update (WU) service on March 18. Before that, the company had warned customers that it would issue SP1 in two waves, and said the follow-on languages would probably be issued this month.
When Microsoft unveiled SP1 via WU, users griped about not being able to download the service pack because of balky device drivers. As an alternative, Microsoft made available a much larger standalone installer that ignores any possible driver issues. The installer was also updated today to support all 36 languages, and is available in 32-bit and 64-bit editions.
Microsoft had also slated automatic download and installation of SP1 for "mid-April," possibly earlier, but the mid-point of the month came and went Tuesday without the company pushing the service pack to every eligible Vista user. Instead, users must call up Windows Update and manually select the still-optional download.