Microsoft Corp. will release Windows Vista Service Pack 1 next week to a wider audience, according to information posted on Amazon.com and reports from a Web site that correctly predicted SP1's ship date last month.
Amazon.com currently lists Vista SP1 retail copies as becoming available on Wednesday, March 19, while TechARP.com, a Malaysian Web site that nailed the update's release-to-manufacturing (RTM) date several days early, said users would be able to download SP1 starting Tuesday, March 18.
Vista SP1 shipped to duplication and resellers Feb. 4, but since then, it has only been available to previous beta testers, volume-licensing customers and subscribers to IT subscription services. In fact, subscribers to TechNet and the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) got access to SP1 only after raising a ruckus, with some threatening to cancel their subscriptions and others saying they would postpone Vista deployment.
