Well, I take a couple days off and it seems like things decided to go nuts. First up, it appears that Vista SP1 has been released. Details about the release can be found on the Vista blog: Link. However, don’t expect to download the SP from Windows Update anytime soon. The Vista product team is staggering the rollout in an effort to avoid deployment issues (what a great idea).
In addition, to Vista SP1 being released, Windows Server 2008 has emerged from its RC shell into RTM. I’d give you the MS link, but their site is in transition right now and most of the W2008 RC stuff is being flipped out. Thus, there are lots of broken links. With that said, here is the story from another site: Link. Yippie… I can’t wait to start rebuilding all of my lab machines!
On another note… Microsoft decided to make yet another run at buying out Yahoo on Friday. We all know that story (nothing like seeing journalists stalking the Yahoo, Microsoft, and Google campuses in search of dirt). What is interesting about this whole thing is that there are now “rumors” that Yahoo and Google are talking about some kind of alliance. I’d suspect this is the start of the coming smack down between Microsoft and Google. Yes, they have been going at it for some time. But, with W2008 and Vista SP1 fresh off the presses and Google’s ever beating war drums this rumble in the jungle is about to take on new meaning. Let’s see where this takes us!
Lastly, Microsoft and Dell have teamed up to release Widows Vista Product Red. The result of this effort is a series of Dell machines installed with Vista which are both “red” themed. For every machine that is purchased, Windows and Dell will jointly contribute $50 to $80 to help eliminate AIDS in Africa. That works out to be around 5% of the purchase price of a machine. Considering how slim margins are with hardware, that is not a bad amount. Pretty cool guys!
