Microsoft testers yesterday got their hands on a pre-beta for the second major update to Vista in the form of Service Pack 2. As previously reported, the most notable features in it include Windows Search 4.0 (which you can download separately anyway), the Bluetooth 2.1 Feature Pack, native support for Blu-ray, and a simpler system for finding and setting-up wireless Internet connections.

That’s not really all that much to get excited about, especially now that the attention is shifting to Windows 7, but any improvement is always welcome. The software giant is currently aiming to release the final version of the service pack in the first half of 2009, but if you want to take a peek at this pre-beta version all you need is the right registry keys.

CyberNet has all the details on how to download SP2 via Windows Update by running a small batch file. Needless to say, you should not install this on your main system or any system you rely on, as this is merely a pre-beta and there will likely be some bugs in it.