With the various issues that have plagued Vista users, many have eagerly awaited the release of a service pack for quite some time now. Not that you can blame users, as there are many glaring issues such as network performance and application compatibility that need to be addressed. But the wait is almost over, with Vista SP1 reaching RTM status, meaning they have put the finishing touches on it and are now planning the official release.

With any luck, Vista SP1 will be launched alongside Windows Server 2008 in just a few weeks. However, according to some sources including the official Windows Vista Blog, it may not become available until mid-March. Interestingly, it's also mentioned in the blog that there are known driver issues with SP1 which has caused the delays. Also, automatic installation of SP1 is not likely to occur until mid-April as part of a "staged rollout" to minimize complications, or so they say.