Yesterday, Microsoft made available the final Windows 7 RTM bits for MSDN and TechNet users (along with, it seems, volume licensing partners as well). There isn’t a whole lot to talk about with the Windows 7 SP1, of course, there’s a lot more on the Server end. However, I finally got around to installing it last night.
The official release to general users will be next Tuesday, February 22. However, if you have an MSDN or TechNet account, the ISOs are now available. Plus, not only do subscribers get the SP1 by itself, but Microsoft also gave us ISOs of the OS with SP1 already integrated. No slipstreaming needed here! Of course, Microsoft has done this with XP and Vista as well, so it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise.
With SP1, my build jumped from 7600 to 7601. Not too big of a jump here, but normal for a service release.
For those interested in the longer build string, going by the setup file, it is 6.1.7601.17514:
I’ve been running SP1 on most of my computers since the initial Beta, and I haven’t noticed any problems, save for one specific install error with the original beta. The major change that I’ve noticed with the RTM was installation. It took about an hour and fifteen minutes to install the RTM or roughly three to four times longer than the RC or the Beta. This install was merely via a direct install (i.e. from the hard drive or DVD) and not via Windows Update. I’ve tested the RC and Beta under several install scenarios and none of them took more than about 20-30 minutes. Hopefully, the Windows Update version (which most people will receive in the coming weeks) will be much faster.
Over the weekend I hope to install SP1 on several different machines and hopefully, even on a Server 2008 R2 machine! With that aside, I’ll have a more in-depth coverage of SP1, along with, of course, my usual assortment of screen-grabs and even some tips and tricks. Stay tuned!
As always, you can find more of my tech mumblings and grumblings on Twitter by following @jctierney!
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