News source: Sina Technology Malaysian technology website TechARP quoted sources as saying that Microsoft Windows 7 SP1 will be released in the fourth quarter of this year.
TechARP has accurately predicted the release time of Windows XP and Vista Service Packs many times before. The website stated that an unnamed source said that Microsoft originally set the release time of Windows 7 SP1 at 22 months, but Microsoft recently changed its mind and hopes to advance this date in order to solve some serious vulnerabilities. TechARP said: "Microsoft is expected to complete development of Windows 7 SP1 as early as the last quarter of 2010."
If this date is true, it will be consistent with the time when Microsoft previously released Windows XP SP1 and Vista SP1. Windows XP was released in October 2001, and 10 months later, Microsoft released Windows XP SP1. Vista was launched in January 2007, and about 12 months later, Vista SP1 was also officially released.
or should be postponed
But Michael Cherry, an analyst at market research firm Directions on Microsoft, believes that Microsoft should reconsider the release time of Windows 7 SP1 and delay it as much as possible. He said: "There are no fixed rules for the release of service packs. But it will become a psychological barrier, making users wait for SP1."
Cherry believes that Microsoft will benefit from the delayed release of Windows 7 SP1. He said: "Windows 7 is currently performing very well, and if Microsoft announces that it will launch SP1, its sales will slow down. Logically speaking, users will wait for the release of SP1. This will have a negative impact on the current good sales situation of Windows 7 inhibitory effect.”
Microsoft CFO Peter Klein (Peter Klein) has said that since July 2009, Microsoft has sold 90 million Windows 7 licenses. But Microsoft declined to comment on TechARP's news. A company spokesperson said: "It is Microsoft policy not to comment on rumors and speculation. We have nothing new to announce at this time."
negative impact
Cherry believes that because Windows 7 is currently very popular and has been widely praised, if Microsoft wants to break the habit of users waiting for SP1, now is a good opportunity. "I haven't heard of any major issues with Windows 7, so this time it's hurting Microsoft's interests to have users wait for SP1," he said.
He believes that due to the current many positive reviews, Microsoft may also be hesitant to Windows 7 SP1, and if SP1 is flawed, it will have a negative impact.
When Microsoft first released Vista in 2007, it said it didn't need to develop service packs because Windows Update could send patches to users, but the company later changed that stance and launched Vista SP1. But Microsoft did not issue a similar statement for Windows 7. Cherry believes that users still need service packs. He explained: "When a user buys a new computer, he needs to use Windows Update to update patches. There will be probably 50, 60 or 70 patches waiting for updates, which will become a burden."
Since its official release in October last year, Microsoft has launched multiple stability and reliability updates for Windows 7. However, a patch in January this year caused a blue screen of death problem on the system, but Microsoft said that the problem was not serious.