Announcing the release candidate of Windows Server 2008 and Windows vista service pack 2 (SP2)

Hello everyone, Justin Graham here again! We’ve been hard at work here in Redmond on Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. I’m happy to share today the Release Candidate (RC) of SP2 is available to MSDN and TechNet subscribers via the TechNet and MSDN websites! Next week, the RC of SP2 will be made available to the general public via the same web properties next week. I encourage you to download and install the RC build and give us feedback. We want to make sure Windows Server 2008 continues to be the best server operating system for your needs!

The next question is usually “what’s in it for me?” We’ve made some great improvements in SP2, a few are:

• Easier Virtualization: Hyper-V RTM is in the Service Pack. That’s right, you no longer have to download and install it separately

• More Green: increased power efficiency through improved processor power management

• Unified: We will be delivering one package for 32-bit and one package for 64-bit that cover both Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. Less packages, less testing, easier deployment for IT Administrators

If you want the full list of improvements, please download and read the Notable Changes document

Happy downloading and testing everyone! As you know, changes to our product are based on feedback, so please share your thoughts with us.