Windows Server 2008 - already in Service Pack 1?
picture from http://blogs.msdn.com/iainmcdonald
One of the most frequently asked question and feedback by customers and partners alike on Windows Server 2008 is about the fact that the product states "Service Pack 1" in different locations inside the product. People thought it was a bug or maybe an oversight from Microsoft. This is actually due to an effort to combine servicing of Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 to ease the maintenance procedures. M
ore information can be found in this announcement: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2007/aug07/08-29vistasp1beta.mspx
PressPass: It sounds like a lot is changing. Is this a sizeable update for Windows Vista?
DeVaan: It’s true that at first glance it will look like a lot is changing, and it’s true that there are thousands of files being changed to varying degrees in Windows Vista SP1. However, the first measure of “size” most people will encounter will likely be the download of Windows Vista SP1 through Windows Update or Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), which we predict will be about 50 MB. The second measure of size will be the free disk space requirement for installing Windows Vista SP1, which is currently around 7 GB for the beta, although we will be working to bring this down for the final version as we optimize the servicing algorithms used.
IT Professionals not using distribution tools like WSUS will work with the “stand-alone” image of Windows Vista SP1. This image will be considerably larger than the download, at about a gigabyte in the beta, but it’s large with good reasons. This package includes all of the localized language resources for 36 languages, so that companies with worldwide install images have all the files they need in one place. Also, this image utilizes servicing algorithms that update all files of an operating system component, even if only one of the files has changed, which increases the size of the image but allows IT Pros to service their images in any order they chose without worrying about creating inconsistent system states across their organization. Finally, Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 share the same code base, and we are choosing to unify the servicing between the two in order to simplify the long-term maintenance process and lower support costs for customers. To do this, we’re changing the files necessary to align the servicing components, which contributes to the larger size of the stand-alone image