Microsoft sneaks out Windows 7 SP1 release candidate

Microsoft has made available a release candidate of Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1), the first update to Windows 7 since it was launched last year.

Announced quietly in a posting on Microsoft's Windows blog, the release candidate is the final public test build of SP1 before Microsoft pushes it out as a finished update, which is still expected to fall within the first half of 2011.

Available to download and evaluate now, the release candidate of Windows 7 SP1, which is also the SP1 for Windows Server 2008 R2, adds few new features, and consists largely of previous updates delivered over the Windows Update service.

However, two significant features being added are Dynamic Memory and RemoteFX, which will deliver enhancements to virtualised server and desktop environments respectively.

Dynamic Memory enables Windows servers using Hyper-V for virtualisation to be more efficient in the way they allocate memory, allowing for higher virtual machine density and dynamic adjustments in memory allocation based on the workload demands of specific virtual machines.

RemoteFX is an overhaul of Microsoft's remote screen technology that promises to deliver full video, 3D graphics and the Windows Aero experience in a remote desktop session. This aims to give users of virtual desktops the same experience as if they were running Windows 7 locally.