Microsoft is releasing the
Windows Vista Service Pack 2 beta to a select group of testers
this Wednesday (29 October).
"As part of the development and testing process, we are going to
start by providing a small group of Technology Adoption Program
customers with
Windows Vista SP2 Beta for evaluation," said Vista development
head Mike Nash in a blog.
"The final release date for Windows Vista SP2 will be based on
quality. So we will track customer and partner feedback from the
beta program before setting a final date for the release," he
said.
Windows Vista SP2 Beta contains previously released fixes
focused on addressing specific reliability, performance, and
compatibility issues.
"We expect Windows Vista SP2 will retain compatibility with
applications that run on Windows Vista and Windows Vista SP1 and
are written using public APIs," Nash reassured users.
The improvements are integrated into a single service pack
covering both the Windows Vista client version and Windows Server
2008. This should minimise deployment and testing complexity for
customers.
Vista SP2 features
- Windows Vista SP2 adds Windows Search 4.0 for faster and
improved relevancy in searches.
- Windows Vista SP2 contains the Bluetooth 2.1 Feature Pack
supporting the most recent specification for Bluetooth
Technology.
- Ability to record data on to Blu-Ray media natively in Windows
Vista.
- Adds Windows Connect Now (WCN) to simplify Wi-Fi
Configuration.
- Windows Vista SP2 enables the exFAT file system to support UTC
timestamps, which allows correct file synchronisation across time
zones.