Microsoft Preps for Public Vista SP1 Test

Although not yet completely finished, a polished release candidate for Vista Service Pack 1 will be available next week to the general public.

For all those who have griped about Windows Vista’s performance, bugs, and compatibility issues, a much-anticipated improvement is finally on its way. A release candidate for Vista Service Pack 1 will reach open distribution next week, giving average users a chance to see if the pack will settle their Vista woes.

Microsoft made the announcement through its Windows Vista Blog on Wednesday. According to product manager Nick White, the release candidate will be available to Microsoft Connect users on Thursday, followed by TechNet and MSDN subscribers, followed by the general public next week.

A release candidate isn’t a final product, but contains many upgrades from beta tests and is Microsoft’s last product development stage before pushing the upgrade out to manufacturers.  Improvements from the last Vista Service Pack 1 beta include a smaller installer, tidier installation process, as well as improved installation reliability and guidance.