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Windows 7 SP1 public beta released

Tom Warren
12 July 2010 - 14:43
113 Comments
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Microsoft announced on Monday that the first Windows 7 Service Pack 1 public beta is now available.

Speaking at Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference in Washington, Corporate Vice President of Windows & Windows Live - Tami Reller announced the public beta. Microsoft revealed its plans for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 last month at its annual Tech-Ed conference. Windows 7 SP1 will include the usual hotfix patches and new virtualization tools in SP1 will help Windows Server 2008 R2 users prepare for cloud computing. SP1 will include RemoteFX which provides rich 3-D graphical experience for remote users. The service pack also will include a series of incremental updates, previously released on Windows Update for both Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1.

RemoteFX is a new enhancement to RDP's graphical remoting capabilities. The idea behind RemoteFX is to allow for a full remote experiences including multiple displays, Aero and multimedia streaming to all types of client devices including low cost thin clients. RemoteFX achieves this by using a technique known as host-based rendering. This technique allows for the final screen image to be rendered locally on the remote PC after being compressed and sent down to that remote host. The enhancements are expected to greatly improve video streaming across remote sessions which is currently one of the major drawbacks of virtualized computing.

In April this year an early copy of Windows 7 SP1 surfaced on the Internet. The build leaked to file sharing sites. SP1 is also rumoured to include USB 3.0 support and enhanced Bluetooth/Wi-Fi stacks but Microsoft has not yet confirmed this.

Microsoft released a beta build of Windows 7 to testers earlier this month. Weighing in at 1.22GB the build was compiled on June 3 with the number 7601.16562.100603-1800. Microsoft released the public beta on its TechNet Evaluation Center page.

Comments (113)

  1. +Anarkii - 12 July 2010 - 14:45

    yay Should be available when I wake up then

  2. Sebianoti - 12 July 2010 - 14:45

    CAN'T WAIT!!! lol

  3. Meph - 12 July 2010 - 15:38

    Sebianoti said,
    CAN'T WAIT!!! lol

    Why...?

    (Unless you're referring to Windows Server.)

  4. Magallanes - 13 July 2010 - 01:26

    Meph said,

    Why...?

    (Unless you're referring to Windows Server.)


    +1
    If it's not broken, don't fix it!

  5. Alastyr - 13 July 2010 - 14:31

    Magallanes said,

    +1
    If it's not broken, don't fix it!

    RemoteFX doesn't exist, so the fix is to install it.

  6. Meph - 13 July 2010 - 16:59

    Magallanes said,

    +1
    If it's not broken, don't fix it!

    Actually, I meant that there's no point getting it if it only bundles together loads of Windows Updates.

  7. KavazovAngel - 12 July 2010 - 14:50

    No thanks. Will wait for the official release. Don't want to screw something up.

  8. Jebadiah - 12 July 2010 - 18:57

    KavazovAngel said,
    No thanks. Will wait for the official release. Don't want to screw something up.
    LOL I was thinking the same thing. Why do they release Betas of Service Packs? Don't they have testers inside the company? It is simply a bunch of fixes isn't it? It's like test quality drug testing on a bunch of production quality guinea pigs.

  9. LiquidSolstice - 12 July 2010 - 23:03

    KavazovAngel said,
    No thanks. Will wait for the official release. Don't want to screw something up.

    It doesn't screw anything up . Maybe you don't understand the meaning of "testers" and "rollback".

  10. Stormeh - 13 July 2010 - 01:25

    Jebadiah said,
    LOL I was thinking the same thing. Why do they release Betas of Service Packs? Don't they have testers inside the company? It is simply a bunch of fixes isn't it? It's like test quality drug testing on a bunch of production quality guinea pigs.

    There's a difference between having teams of testers and millions of daredevils who will install any beta they see, then report even the slightest problem they encounter. Win-win situation for everyone, developers get their stuff tested, the daredevils are kept happy, and I wait with the popcorn for either some explosion or new software around the corner that's been tested

  11. Magallanes - 13 July 2010 - 01:29

    LiquidSolstice said,

    It doesn't screw anything up . Maybe you don't understand the meaning of "testers" and "rollback".

    i think everybody understand the concept tester aka guinea pig.
    And service pack are not a simple update that you can uninstall.

  12. psreloaded - 13 July 2010 - 05:41

    Jebadiah said,
    LOL I was thinking the same thing. Why do they release Betas of Service Packs? Don't they have testers inside the company? It is simply a bunch of fixes isn't it? It's like test quality drug testing on a bunch of production quality guinea pigs.

    So true...

  13. Hani - 12 July 2010 - 14:52

    I'm going to try it.

  14. Educated Idiot - 12 July 2010 - 14:58

    Just another rollup of previously released hotfixes. Yawn. I'll get it through WU when it's ready.

  15. aarste - 12 July 2010 - 15:03

    bjoswald said,
    Just another rollup of previously released hotfixes. Yawn. I'll get it through WU when it's ready.

    Badly misinformed, eh?

  16. Olli - 12 July 2010 - 15:29

    aarste said,

    Badly misinformed, eh?

    "The SP1 Beta does not provide new end-user features, and installation is not supported by Microsoft."

  17. +neo158 - 12 July 2010 - 15:31

    bjoswald said,
    Just another rollup of previously released hotfixes. Yawn. I'll get it through WU when it's ready.

    You do realise that is exactly what a Service Pack is, don't you?

    XP SP2 was an exception as it did a major security overhaul

  18. epple - 12 July 2010 - 16:02

    neo158 said,
    You do realise that is exactly what a Service Pack is, don't you?
    XP SP2 was an exception as it did a major security overhaul
    Let's not forget SP1 for Vista.

  19. astroX - 12 July 2010 - 16:23

    epple said,
    Let's not forget SP1 for Vista.

    yes it will [if this Beta is the same as the one it leaked recently]

  20. epple - 13 July 2010 - 12:06

    astroX said,
    yes it will [if this Beta is the same as the one it leaked recently]
    wat

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