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Administration Issues

Under the broad heading of administration, Microsoft says SP1 will allow BitLocker Drive Encryption to work with additional local volumes (right now it can encrypt only one drive) and address problems with local printing from a Windows Terminal Services session. SP1 will also improve the Network Diagnostics tool to help solve common file sharing problems, and will allow administrators to selectively run Disk Defragmenter on specified volumes.

SP1 will also modify the tools with which network administrators can manage group policy, a change that will likely only concern IT pros at large companies.

New Technology Support

SP1 will add support for the exFAT (Extended File Allocation Table) file system that is coming for flash memory storage and consumer devices, and for SD Advanced Direct Memory Access, a technology that will speed up file transfers from compliant SD Card host devices (anything with an SD Card slot, such as a camera, phone, or MP3 player).

Vista SP1 will add support for Direct3D 10.1 with APIs that should help PC game developers better utilize the latest Direct3D graphics hardware. Also new: support for network bootups using the Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI), a standard that facilitates the development of preboot applications for PCs running the 64-bit version of Vista.

Finally, SP1 will add support for SSTP, a technology that will be part of the Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) platform for VPN connections.

The Last XP Service Pack

Microsoft described XP SP3 as an "end-of-life" update consisting of "previously released updates for Windows XP including security updates, out-of-band releases, and hotfixes" plus a small number of new updates. (Read more about both Vista SP1 and XP SP3 on the Vista team blog.)

Finally, Microsoft announced that Windows Server 2008 will be released to manufacturing in the first quarter of 2008. Microsoft added it was still going ahead with a previously announced February 27 launch event for Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008, and Microsoft SQL Server 2008.