Ars Technica reports that Microsoft has sent out the RC-Escrow build of SP2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 to testers. An email has been sent to SP2 testers regarding this release. The RC-Escrow build is available for download from this Thursday as a standalone installer or via Windows Update or as a slipstreamed download. Microsoft claims that the service pack includes 656 individual hotfixes.The Escrow Build is a build where development halts and developers & beta testers start testing the product for any show-stopper bugs. Microsoft has emphasized this to testers to concentrate only on the regressions and confirmation of fixes when asking for feedback which includes the RC Escrow install survey.
Public beta of SP2 was released in December 2008 and Vista SP2 RC Escrow Build was rumored to be released in February and the final release was expected to happen in May or June.
TechARP has published the updated release schedule. Seems like we have missed it somehow. According to TechARP, the final RC build is now expected to happen on Feb 16th and the final release is expected to happen around April or May.
Image Courtesy: TechARP
















In what way is Vista not stable?
Right back at ya.
There aren't many complaints about Vista's stability, the complaints are more about performance, which aren't even relevant anymore. Thanks for trying though.
Vista SP1 is unstable for you? *shrug*
In that case, drivers or other software running close to the system sounds like the culprit. Vista has been very stable here. The reason Windows 7 is so stable is also because it makes no major architecture changes, while building on Vista.
Consumers have already decide to wait for Win 7. You can argue that they are wrong, you can also argue that they're right. You can argue for the bad economy. But the fact remain Computer sales are down.
I installed the 64-bit beta on a test PC. Dual-Core Intel E2220, 2 Gig Ram, Asus P5GC-MX with integrated VGA (Intel 945). Good PC, but nothing earth shatterring. The difference in performance with Vista is absolutely incredible.
There still some bug but it's first beta. I cannot download anything using IE 8. Download work fine with Firefox. Should be fix somewhere down the line.
Look promising.
Thanks for being the only one so far to have a brain AND a sense of humor.
The Escrow Build is a build where development halts and developers & beta testers start testing the product for any show-stopper bugs
'Beta' is a nickname for software which has passed the alpha testing stage of development and has been released to users for software testing before its official release. Beta testing allows the software to undergo usability testing with users who provide feedback, so that any malfunctions these users find in the software can be reported to the developers and fixed. Beta software can be unstable and could cause crashes or data loss.
Microsoft has emphasized this to testers to concentrate only on the regressions and confirmation of fixes
This may be a type of beta build, but only for the types of bugs listed above, usually done in RC builds
@mclaren05, it doesn't sound at all like a beta to me.
An escrow build, according to Microsoft sources, means code development is ceased as developers and beta testers hunt for recall class bugs. The escrow code is considered the release to manufacturing code.
From here - http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9910/06/....idg/index.html
Last edited by Aeden on 29 Jan 2009 - 02:33
Hmm, well, the escrow build comes before the RC, so I think it means they expect no further updates to the RC build after the RC escrow build. That it's there to tell that "we won't do any further work before the RC unless something shows up".
This why they get real world testing out of it themselves and, like the article states, look for any major show-stoppers. If they don't find any then they RTM it.
This why they get real world testing out of it themselves and, like the article states, look for any major show-stoppers. If they don't find any then they RTM it.
it's "I couldn't care less"
what you said makes no sense at all
Just, sorry I don't want my Vista Ultimate back. Even I've paid so much money for it.
Just, sorry I don't want my Vista Ultimate back. Even I've paid so much money for it.
What's joyous about a netbook experience? They're underpowered computers.
And how do you guys know that SP2 for Vista isn't the same things that were added to Windows7? Since Windows 7 *IS* Vista, just modified a little.
And how do you guys know that SP2 for Vista isn't the same things that were added to Windows7? Since Windows 7 *IS* Vista, just modified a little.
A couple things:
1. Windows 7 is not "Vista, just modified a little".
2. There is a "ton of bias" for Vista, and you know what? It's Microsoft's fault, since Vista basically sucked at RTM. If Microsoft would have given enough time for vendors to provide working Vista drivers that would have stopped the "rumors/lies spread about Vista". At the beginning these so-called "rumors/lies" were actually the truth. The problem is that since then Vista has gotten much better, but you know what buddy? Microsoft isn't getting the word out so people still think it sucks when really it doesn't.
And how do you guys know that SP2 for Vista isn't the same things that were added to Windows7? Since Windows 7 *IS* Vista, just modified a little.
A couple things:
1. Windows 7 is not "Vista, just modified a little".
2. There is a "ton of bias" for Vista, and you know what? It's Microsoft's fault, since Vista basically sucked at RTM. If Microsoft would have given enough time for vendors to provide working Vista drivers that would have stopped the "rumors/lies spread about Vista". At the beginning these so-called "rumors/lies" were actually the truth. The problem is that since then Vista has gotten much better, but you know what buddy? Microsoft isn't getting the word out so people still think it sucks when really it doesn't.
vendors had enough time to create drivers, more then enough time they just didn't feel like
And how do you guys know that SP2 for Vista isn't the same things that were added to Windows7? Since Windows 7 *IS* Vista, just modified a little.
A couple things:
1. Windows 7 is not "Vista, just modified a little".
2. There is a "ton of bias" for Vista, and you know what? It was not Microsoft's fault, since Vista was stable and fast at RTM. If Vendors would have provide working Vista drivers that would have stopped the "rumors/lies spread about Vista". At the beginning these so-called "rumors/lies" were actually false. And since then Vista has gotten much better, but you know what buddy? Microsoft has gotten the word out but people still think it sucks when really it doesn't.
Venders had plenty of time to get drivers out and it still took months after RTM to get good drivers. That was not the fault of Microsoft but the venders.
And how do you guys know that SP2 for Vista isn't the same things that were added to Windows7? Since Windows 7 *IS* Vista, just modified a little.
A couple things:
1. Windows 7 is not "Vista, just modified a little".
2. There is a "ton of bias" for Vista, and you know what? It's Microsoft's fault, since Vista basically sucked at RTM. If Microsoft would have given enough time for vendors to provide working Vista drivers that would have stopped the "rumors/lies spread about Vista". At the beginning these so-called "rumors/lies" were actually the truth. The problem is that since then Vista has gotten much better, but you know what buddy? Microsoft isn't getting the word out so people still think it sucks when really it doesn't.
vendors had enough time to create drivers, more then enough time they just didn't feel like
Exactly. non.sequitur2 has no idea what he's talking about. With the amount of times Vista was delayed/pushed back, hardware vendors had ample time to write drivers, and didn't bother, the worst offender of this being nVidia at the time.
No, because after the Longhorn project reboot, the kernel was switched entirely, so this would have invalidated any drivers before the reboot. Jim Allchin himself (Vista project lead) have said that Vista was essentially only under development in around 2.5 years.
Longhorn Driver Model was the same as Vista Driver Model.
You don't understand. They didn't scrap everything.
You must be living in Bizarro world.
- Vista is slow like hell. Specially with Laptop. Customer complain all the time about how slow it is. It's not a collective dream. I worked hard to find a multitude of tricks and tips to fix or alleviate some of these performance problems. But that's not good enough. Vista is bloathed and slow for that reason.
- Network. Everything that has to do with network in Vista is crap. Trying to share files between pc and network drive create continual lock-up. Also not a week goes by, that I don't have customer come in and complaining their internet connections doesn't work anymore. I've work countless hours trying to figure out what is going on, but it is a nightmare. Sometime reinstalling the network card (drivers) works, sometime it doesn't. In fact most of the time I do a restore to an earlier checkpoint and that solve the problem. And I can hear you with all your excuses for why this happen, but the fact of the matter is, that doesn't happen with XP.
And that's just a couples of things that is most frequent. I could go on for hours. But I have a job to go do ...
I hope MS will have the decence to offer incredible rebate on Win 7 license to everybody that got stuck with a Vista licence.
Last edited by Captain555 on 29 Jan 2009 - 19:33
And how do you guys know that SP2 for Vista isn't the same things that were added to Windows7? Since Windows 7 *IS* Vista, just modified a little.
A couple things:
1. Windows 7 is not "Vista, just modified a little".
2. There is a "ton of bias" for Vista, and you know what? It's Microsoft's fault, since Vista basically sucked at RTM. If Microsoft would have given enough time for vendors to provide working Vista drivers that would have stopped the "rumors/lies spread about Vista". At the beginning these so-called "rumors/lies" were actually the truth. The problem is that since then Vista has gotten much better, but you know what buddy? Microsoft isn't getting the word out so people still think it sucks when really it doesn't.
I agree with you "non.sequitur2"
If only.
I'm hoping that this SP will pacify me now as I need to do a complete reformat on my box.
Commenting has either been disabled on this article or you are not logged in. Click here to login or register, its free!
Note: Anonymous commenting is disabled in order to keep the quality of responses to a high standard.