Microsoft distributed
a new build of Windows Vista's first service pack last week to its
invite-only list of testers, according to bloggers armed with copies. But as is
the norm, the version also leaked to
BitTorrent networks. The 6.0.6001.16633 (longhorn.070803-1655) build weighs
in at a relatively svelte 684MB, bloggers and message forum users claimed.
The first Vista
Service Pack 1 (SP1) beta, which leaked earlier this month to BitTorrent
peer-to-peer file-sharing networks, was significantly larger -- more than 3GB --
and came as an .iso file that was, in effect, Vista with SP1 already added. Last
week's build, an .exe file, updates existing Vista installations. Vista
updates -- such as security patches and other hotfixes -- are normally packaged
as .msu files, however, perhaps indicating that 6.0.6001.16633 is not a direct
step toward a public release of SP1.
Update: NEWS.com is reporting that Microsoft has now set a release date of the first quarter of 2008 for the first service pack update.