(04/Feb/08) Windows Vista Service Pack 1 has been released to manufacturing, Microsoft says, stating that the software update is planned for a public roll-out in March. 

Along with Vista SP1, Windows Server 2008 was released to manufacturing today.

Mike Nash from the Windows Product Management group at Microsoft confirmed Vista SP1's arrival on Monday, saying that update contains "reliability and performance" enhancements as well as improved hardware support. Nash states that Windows Vista SP1 will be released via Windows Update and the Microsoft.com download center in mid-March. A month later, in mid-April, Vista SP1 will be served to customers who chose to have system updates downloaded automatically.

Five languages will be supported in the initial release: English, French, Spanish, German and Japanese. The remaining languages will follow in April. Microsoft has released some details about Vista SP1 on its website.

This is good news not just for Microsoft, but for Vista users struggling with the latest version of Windows. Although precise details of what will be in Vista SP1 are not yet available, judging by the beta releases, the update will address a number of common Vista headaches.

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