Just two days after we reported the first service pack for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 was nearing release, a Microsoft employee has claimed it will be made available in some form tomorrow.
WinRumors spotted a blog post by Microsoft Enterprise Services employee Alex Kibkalo, claiming that Windows 7 Service Pack 1 is ready for release with the build string 7601.17514.win7sp1_rtm.101119-1850. That build string lines up with claims from notorious leak site Wzor, who in late December identified the very same string as belonging to the final SP1 build.
The post stated that SP1 would be ''publicly available'' tomorrow, with Mr Kibkalo later adding in the post's comments that it would be released on January 15th ''Redmond time''. He also claimed an internal announcement marking the completion of the service pack had been made.
According to WinRumors, the release referred to in the blog post is only for OEMs, a claim supported by a another comment by Mr Kibkalo stating that SP1 could hit Windows Update in the next fortnight.
While the completion of Service Pack 1 would line up with a Microsoft promise to release the update in the first half of this year, given that January 15 is a Saturday, it seems unlikely the date provided by Mr Kibkalo is correct. A January 15 release, even just to OEMs, would mark the first time ever Microsoft has released a service pack on a weekend. It is also unclear whether Mr Kibkalo speaks for Microsoft in an official fashion.
Along with various bug fixes, Service Pack 1 will bring dynamic memory support to Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2, allowing administrators to pool all memory available on a physical host and dynamically distribute it to virtual machines running on that host as needed. RemoteFX will add enhanced desktop virtualization aimed at giving remote users the same experience as those sitting at a workstation.
Update: Neowin has been contacted by a Microsoft spokesperson. who stated Service Pack 1 has not been released to OEMs.
''Microsoft has not released SP1 to OEMs at this time, though we are on track for a Q1 release, as we previously announced,'' she said.
Update 2: As noted by multiple Neowin commenters, a final or near-final version of Service Pack 1 has been made available via Wzor. The leak, which matches the build string of the alleged final build (7601.17514.win7sp1_rtm.101119-1850), weighs in at 638MB for the x64 ''Wave0'' version and 349MB for the x86 ''Wave0'' version. ''Wave0'' releases contain only English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish language files. ''Wave1'' releases containing around 30 additional languages have also been leaked by Wzor.
Microsoft blogger Paul Thurrott reports that the build floating around the internet is ''near-final'', but Service Pack 1 is ''not quite done''. Neowin has requested comment from Microsoft about the leaked builds.
Image Credit: Alex Kibkalo
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