A rumor is spreading across the web that Microsoft is to release the final version of Vista Service Pack 1 on February 15. The company has declined to comment on the date, however, reiterating what we already know: it will be released in the first quarter of 2008.

Meanwhile, Microsoft released the second ‘Refresh’ iteration of the near final Windows Vista Service Pack 1 last week. But unlike the first version of the code, which was made available as a public beta download, the Refresh 2 version is being offered to beta testers only, giving further weight to the theory that a full launch is imminent. Despite Service Pack 1 being little more than a roll-up of all the patches released to the public so far, many are optimistic that the SP1 milestone will herald a new wave of adoption of Vista.