Windows Server 2008 has gone into the final test stages: Escrow. If all goes well it is expected the RTM build bits to be delivered on January 16th. After that all the teams working on Windows have to "sign off" the build (till Jan 23rd)

The week after that there will be "media verification" whatever that may be and then the Release To Manufacturing on February 6th.

We already know Windows Server 2008 build is in sync with Windows Vista Service Pack 1, so do the math.

February 27th is the worldwide launch of Windows Server 2008 together with Visual Studio 2008 and SQL Server 2008 in Los Angeles. There will be launch events around that day all over the world.

SQL Server 2008 has not yet RTMed yet on its launch day!

WSUS 3.0 sp1 can be expected in this time frame too.

News source: Bink.nu

Note: The bit I’m interested in I have marked in bold, so could we see Vista SP1 out sometime this month?

Today we’re making available the release candidate (RC) of Windows Vista SP1 via Microsoft Connect, and tomorrow subscribers to TechNet and MDSN will have access to those RC bits too.  In addition, the RC will be available to the public next week via Microsoft’s Download Center. The release candidate phase of beta software is typically the final phase before the RTM (release-to-manufacturing) of a product and indicates that the code has attained a significant level of performance and stability.

Let me call out several changes made since the Beta release of Service Pack 1 — many of which came about as a result of direct feedback from our Beta-testing community (thank you!):

• The size of the standalone installers have decreased significantly. For example, the standalone installer packages consisting of all 36 languages (x86 and x64 chip architectures) are smaller by over 50%. The standalone installer packages consisting of just the 5 languages (again, x86 and x64) slated for initial release are more than 30% smaller in size.
• The required amount of disc space for SP1 installation has also decreased significantly. Furthermore, with the RC, if more space is required to install SP1, an error message will now display exactly how much space is needed to complete the installation.
• Previous SP1 versions left behind a directory of files that wasn’t needed after installation and occupied about 1GB of space; the RC includes automatic disk clean-up to remove this directory.
• Installation reliability has been improved based on bug reports and error codes reported from Windows Update (thanks, Beta testers!). Testing shows that these improvements have significantly increased the proportion of successful installations of the RC.
• We’ve improved the user experience of installing SP1 via Windows Update. During the Beta release, users installed without much guidance from Windows Update. The RC now contains a series of screens with detailed information on SP1.

More on this blog post including IT Administrator information on the Windows Vista blog

Microsoft is looking to release the Release Candidate (RC) test build of Windows Vista Service Pack (SP) 1 to selected testers the week of December 1, according to sources close to the company.

Microsoft’s plan is to expand the SP1 RC test to the general public by making the build available to any interested parties in the second week of December, sources said.

Microsoft is currently testing the escrow of the SP1 RC build internally. The build being tested internally is build number 17051, sources said.

Microsoft has said it is planning to deliver the final SP1 code in the first quarter of 2008.

Microsoft made a preview build of the Vista SP1 RC available to 15,000 pre-selected testers on November 14.

It’s not clear if Microsoft is planning to make next week’s RC of Vista SP1 available to Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) testers. Microsoft posted to the MSDN site on November 2 a note saying the company had made available for download a preview of the Vista SP1 code. But the note was posted in error.

I’ve asked Microsoft for confirmation on the latest SP1 RC schedule details. No word back yet.

News source: ZDNet Blogs

Berlin’s IFA is the world’s largest consumer electronics exhibition. Bigger than CES, bigger than CeBIT and this year it’s where the Windows Home Server roadshow kicks into gear. (To Charlie’s comment re: German football, at this point I should confess that I was at Wembley last week to see the Germans beat England 2-1. Gutted is not the word. But having been at the World Cup over in Germany last summer, I can say it’s a brilliant country in which to watch football. Watch out though for the Weissbier, it’s lethal :-))

Microsoft today offered a press preview of several of the new Windows Home Server systems hitting the market later this year, and I’m delighted to say, we had a couple of friends of the site there who have provided some great photos of the new hardware.

Whilst we were expecting to see the Fujitsu-Siemens Scaleo Home Server and HP MediaSmart systems on display, along with a debut showing of Medion’s Home Server, I was surprised to see a couple of new partners show off their systems at the event.

The photos you’re about to see have come from Sebastian Kuback from winfuture.de – they have a full photo gallery, as well as videos from the event which are well worth checking out. You can brush up on your German whilst you’re there too (hint: Google Translate is your friend). Thanks to Sebastian for sending these images over for us.

Article continues here: http://www.wegotserved.co.uk/2007/08/30/whs-rocks-berlin-new-partners-new-systems-new-pics/

The first service pack for Windows Vista is slated for release to manufacturing in the first quarter of 2008. The announcement was made via Microsoft’s Windows Window Vista Blog by Nick White, a product manager at Microsoft. We got a chance to sit down with White to talk about SP1 (see interview below).

On the blog post, White made it a point to mention this service pack is quite different from other service packs offered for previous versions of Windows. Microsoft is taking full advantage of Windows Update to send improvements to Windows Vista customers rather than relying on one big service pack. That being said, the message for Windows Vista SP1 is don’t expect new features, but some components do gain new functionality.

So, the biggest question is what will be in Windows Vista SP1? The first is quality improvements (security, reliability, and performance) including all previously released updates. Next, SP1 will include additional support for hardware and standards including an Extensible Firmware Interface (ESO) and an Extended File Allocation Table (exFAT). Probably, the biggest group to benefit from Windows Vista SP1 is administrators.

Benefits of SP1 for administrators include the ability to use BitLocker Drive Encryption to encrypt extra local volumes besides just the C drive. Disk DeFragmenter has been enhanced to allow administrators the ability to control which volume the program defragments. The Network Diagnostics tool has been expanded to help diagnose common file sharing problems and issues associated with printing to local printers from a Windows Terminal Services session. If you manage Group Policy, tools are being updated in SP1 to simplify policy management.

A beta of Windows Vista SP1 will be available “in the next few weeks,” but only a small group of testers will be able to get their hands on it. Following the beta, a pre-release of SP1 will be available to MSDN and TechNet subscribers.

Read more from the Window Vista Blog and the Windows Vista SP1 white paper.

As you might expect, we had some questions for Nick White specifically around what the true benefits of this service pack are. Read our interview below and then check out my opinion.

Interview and rest of article here: http://www.geek.com/windows-vista-sp1-what-it-means-to-you

As promised yesterday and after 5 years of development, Vista is finally finished.

Jim Allchin, the co-president of Microsoft’s Platforms & Services Division has put together a video about the announcement where he announces the General Availability (GA) date of 30 January 2007 for Vista.

Nick White, product manger in Windows client also had this to share with Neowin readers:

“Ultimately, we never could have achieved this milestone without you, the enthusiast community, who have played a key role in making this the highest-quality, most secure, most reliable and most usable version of Windows the world has ever seen. You gave us unprecedented support in testing and providing your feedback while we designed, developed and refined Windows Vista — so much so that it has in many ways become a reflection of your involvement.”

On a conference call with Jim Allchin, Microsoft announced that they will have 18 languages at launch in January and will ship 32 within 100 days of English RTM.

Availability of the RTM code on MSDN is still not known officially with a Microsoft spokesperson citing “within 7 days” after todays announcement. Given MSDN has scheduled down time from 7PM PST to 9PM PST on Friday, November 10th – I’d expect it to arrive shortly after that.

I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate Microsoft, its partners and OEMs and wish Jim Allchin all the best with his retirement from Microsoft at the end of January – good work guys.

News Source: Neowin.net

Windows Defender is now officially out on the Microsoft Windows Defender website and supports Windows XP SP2, Windows XP/2003 x64 SP1 and Windows Server 2003 SP1.

The upcoming Windows Vista will have this already installed so no need to install this.