Microsoft today released Service Pack 1 (SP1) Release Candidate (RC) for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. As you can see over at Microsoft.com, the 32-bit installer is 514.7MB in size while the 64-bit installer is 865.4MB.

Microsoft started testing SP1 seven months ago and a public beta was released in July 2010. The final release of SP1 is expected to arrive during the first quarter of 2011. Microsoft provides service packs for free to bring their OS up to speed with all of the latest security patches and bug fixes, provided that you have a genuine copy of Windows.

For Windows Server 2008 R2, SP1 will add two new features that directly affect Microsoft's desktop virtualization platform: Microsoft Dynamic Memory and Microsoft RemoteFX. The former gives on-the-fly control of a virtual machine's memory while the latter provides a virtualized 3D graphical experience for remote users. For Windows 7, SP1 includes only minor updates: mostly hotfixes already delivered through Windows Update. SP1 will, however, feature an updated Remote Desktop client that takes advantage of RemoteFX introduced Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1.