Vista SP2 RC Now Available for Download

Visit the Microsoft Download Center today (March 4, 2009) and you’ll see numerous Windows Server 2008/Windows Vista SP2 downloads available there, all of which posted on 3/3/2009. When I visited the page in the morning, here’s what shows up under the New Downloads heading there:

Today's downloads are all about SP2 RC

Careful inspection of these listings, however, reveals that all of them still include the word “Beta,” even though all are indeed new files that posted yesterday. Only the DVD ISO includes a filename that specifically mentions RC2–namely, 6002.16670.090130-1715_iso_update_sp_wave0-RCSP2.0_DVD.iso.

Other downloads simply reference their associated KB articles by number, as with the IA64-based offering that appears at the top of the listing shown in the preceding screenshot–namely, Windows6.0-KB948465-IA64.exe. Here again, these articles specifically reference the SP2 beta releases, and make no mention of the Release Candidate itself.

This leads me to a couple of contemplative musings:

• If you want to see what’s in RC2, you’ll want to download and inspect the DVD ISO download
• Microsoft will probably either be issuing a clarification soon, or will replace those other downloads with RC2-labeled materials and KB articles

We’re all going to have to stay tuned to see what happens next. Very interesting! As for myself, I’m downloading the ISO image right now, and will use Daemon Tools to see what’s inside as soon as the download finishes (in 28 more minutes according to the download manager).