Since the original post on the Windows Vista Blog by Mike Nash announcing the RTM of Windows Vista SP1 there has been a lot of complaints about why Microsoft is not releasing the SP1 RTM bits to technical users earlier.  I agree that it was a great idea to hold onto the SP1 bits until the driver issues were fixed for the average Windows user, but to hold SP1 from technical users was a mistake.  Like many of you I complained to Microsoft about the decision warning about the backlash it would cause.  Fortunately, Microsoft has listened to all of us and will be releasing SP1 for technical users much earlier.

According to the new post by Mike Nash earlier today:

We've heard the feedback and I want to update you on our plans and progress for making SP1 available to our beta participants, our Volume Licensing customers, and our MSDN/TechNet Plus subscribers:

• Late Friday we made SP1 RTM available to individuals and companies who participated in the SP1 beta program
• At the end of this week we will be making the English version of Windows Vista SP1 available to Volume Licensing customers.  Other languages will follow soon after
• Later this month, SP1 will be available to MSDN and TechNet Plus subscribers

For broad availability, we are still planning to release in mid-March, since we want to be sure that everyone has the smoothest experience possible.

Read the entire Mike Nash blog post on the Windows Vista Blog