Microsoft has made the latest version of Vista's SP1 release candidate available for download to the general public -- after initially restricting it to 15,000 beta testers when it debuted last week.
The build contains "a number of bugs that testers encountered in previous pre-release versions of SP1", a spokesperson for the software giant told ZDNet Australia in a statement, adding that the volte face was "in the interest of gaining additional tester feedback".
SP1 RC Refresh, as the update is known, requires previous versions of SP1 to be uninstalled before it can be replaced with Refresh, which may entail waiting for the computer to "reboot multiple times", according to Microsoft.
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After multiple rebooting, a period of an hour is required to allow the installer service to "clean up and complete the uninstall" to prevent possible installation errors.
Users with Vista RTM need to install two to three updates depending on their version of Vista before they can welcome SP1 onto their computer.
Refresh is time limited, with the deadline for uninstall being 30 June 2008. A Microsoft spokesperson said the company still aims to have the official version of SP1 available within the first quarter of 2008.
On its Web site, Microsoft warns that it "does not recommend installing this software on primary or mission critical systems".
