The rumour mill claims that Microsoft has abandoned its plans to wait nearly two years after Windows 7's launch to issue the first service pack for its latest operating system.
TechARP.com, a Malaysian website that somehow has managed to guess service pack schedules for both Windows XP and Vista, said the Vole has changed its mind.
Originally Microsoft wanted a 22-month development schedule for Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1). But the company has since changed its mind, reportedly to address an unknown number of "serious" performance bugs.
Now it seems that SP1 will come out in the fourth quarter of this year, which is apparently the earliest the Vole can manage it.
If it follows this timetable then it will fit with the same program that Microsoft used in the past for Windows XP and Windows Vista. It issued Windows XP SP1 10 months after the initial release in October 2001, and delivered Windows Vista SP1 about a year after its January 2007 retail launch.
But the Vole likely isn't happy that word is out that it is planning to release Windows 7 SP1 late this year. Although Microsoft has claimed that Windows 7 is selling well, businesses and home users might decide to hold off buying it now and wait until after SP1 is released.
