Windows Vista SP2 release candidate coming next week

Microsoft has officially announced the Release Candidate for Windows Vista Service Pack 2. Microsoft's TechNet will have the second Vista Service Pack (Vista SP2) available to the public next week, though the exact date has not yet been released. The update will deliver support for newer hardware and emerging standards, as well as consolidating several bug fixes and patches issued between Vista SP1 and now.

Consumers have been waiting for the release of the Windows Vista Service Pack 2, as it will improve non-Microsoft application compatibility, support for new hardware, and system performance.

Vista Service Pack 2 was designed mainly for the improvement of performance. The update offers new contents such as a Service Pack clean up tool capable of recovering hard disk space utilized by previous Vista updates and 691 hotfixes.


Consumers will also be happy to find the new Service Pack 2 equipped with:

1) Improved content protection for television programs recorded utilizing Windows Media Center
2) Bluetooth 2.1 to support emerging Bluetooth technology
3) The ability to record onto Blu-Ray media via Vista directly
4) Wi-Fi configuration simplified
5) Improvements to DirectX multimedia, boasting better graphics for gamers
6) Greater streaming capabilities
7) Support for new 64-bit CPUs from VIA technologies
8) Improved file syncing across different time zones
9) Improved Windows Search, version 4.0 which offers quicker searching and more relevant results

The final version of Vista Service Pack 2 is expected in the second quarter 2009, between sometime between April 1 and June 30.