On the Windows Vista team blog Mike Nash, Corporate VP, Windows Product Management announced the beta of Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2) will be available this coming week to a limited number of testers.

Nash said: “Following the success of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 last spring, we have been working hard on Windows Vista Service Pack 2. As a part of the development and testing process, we’re going to start by providing a small group of Technology Adoption Program customers with Windows Vista SP2 Beta for evaluation next Wednesday, October 29”

He continued: “Windows Vista SP2 Beta contains previously released fixes focused on addressing specific reliability, performance, and compatibility issues … In addition to previously released updates since the launch of Windows Vista SP1, Windows Vista SP2 contains changes focused on supporting new types of hardware and adding support for several emerging standards:

• Windows Vista SP2 adds Windows Search 4.0 for faster and improved relevancy in searches.
• Windows Vista SP2 contains the Bluetooth 2.1 Feature Pack supporting the most recent specification for Bluetooth Technology.
• Ability to record data on to Blu-Ray media natively in Windows Vista.
• Adds Windows Connect Now (WCN) to simplify Wi-Fi Configuration.
• Windows Vista SP2 enables the exFAT file system to support UTC timestamps, which allows correct file synchronization across time zones.

The final release of SP2 is due by mid-2009 and will be synched with a Windows Server 2008 update.

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