Windows 7 SP1 is due tomorrow
Last
week was special for many Windows 7 users who were awaiting
the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1. The initial
service pack update was finally made available to a selected
group of Microsoft customers – MSDN and TechNet faithful
subscribers, and Microsoft’s volume licensing customers.
However, despite the hype, the Windows 7 SP1 is technically
not so much of a big deal. The service pack consists mainly
of security updates and several hotfixes that have already
been released through the Windows Update server. It does not
include new fixes or wide-ranging changes that can improve
the performance of Windows 7 greatly, as compared to the
changes brought about by Windows XP SP2 or even Windows
Vista SP1.
If you are one of those who regularly updates their Windows
7 system, then you probably wouldn’t notice any benefits at
all. The Windows 7 SP1 is basically a collection of all
updates in one package, designed as an easier update process
for users who do not regularly update Windows 7, or for new
Windows 7 installations. I would suggest to those buying a
new PC device with a bundled Windows 7 to look for the SP1
as Microsoft will surely make this available in new
installers.
Windows Server 2008 R2 gets updated with the addition of 2
new great features. The first one, RemoteFX, is a feature
that allows a server-side graphics rendering that will be
extremely useful for thin clients using the Virtual Desktop
Infrastructure (VDI) system of Microsoft. Thin clients can
delegate the rendering of heavy graphics resources into the
Windows Server.
The other update is called Dynamic Memory, which can permit
a single server to host several more virtual machines using
the same amount of memory and computing resources. This
feature can be extremely useful for organizations that need
to run more virtual machines. These 2 new additions seem
very promising and will be welcomed greatly by Windows
Server 2008 subscribers.
Your organization can benefit greatly if you use thin
clients supported by a Windows Server as a backend. For many
costumers, especially those using personal computers at
home, this updates are not available and are not applicable
to your operating system.
Both these updates were made available at 11AM EST
yesterday.
Going by the past updates released by Microsoft, these
downloads should be made available via a patch for current
Windows installations, and also as an .ISO of Windows DVD
installer for those that will be installing Windows 7
initially in their PC.
Because this service pack generally favours the Windows
Server 2008 system, all of Windows 7 updates, especially the
security updates, are extremely helpful. If you haven’t done
so yet, now is the perfect time to update your system. It is
a good habit to update your system from time to time as
Microsoft’s dedicated developing team fixes and resolves
known issues continually.
Windows 7 SPI will be available to the general public
starting on February 22, tomorrow.
It should be available here