Vista SP1 Muddle Blamed on Microsoft Typo

Rumors of an imminent Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) roll out have been blamed on a typo in an official Microsoft e-mail.

Earlier this week, Microsoft 's Windows Driver Kit (WDK) team sent an e-mail to beta testers that said a new build of the WDK was being released to them to coincide "with the recent OS beta release for Vista SP1 Preview," hinting that SP1 beta is soon to be sent to testers. Others speculated that Microsoft might release the SP1 beta Thursday, to coincide with its fiscal 2007 fourth quarter and year-end financial results.

However, the Windows Driver Kit (WDK) team has since revealed that it meant to refer to Windows Server 2008, not Window Vista, in the original e-mail. The updated e-mail says: "Apologies All, We made a typo in the last notification that went that referenced the wrong OS. We didn't mean to imply or cause any confusion on the availability of the Service Pack for Vista. The WDK build available now on connect is the latest for Windows Server 2008."

Microsoft's official line on the release of a Windows Vista SP1 beta remains that it will be "made available sometime this year."

"Service packs are part of the traditional software lifecycle - they're something we do for all Microsoft products as part of our commitment to continuous improvement, and providing early test builds is a standard practice that helps us incorporate customer feedback and improve the overall quality of the product," said Microsoft in a statement.