Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 service pack available now

Microsoft says the release will enable better virtual desktop rollouts

Microsoft has made service pack 1 (SP1) for both Windows 7 and Windows 2008 Server R2 operating systems generally available from today.

The 1.9GB service pack is a multi-language (36) download addressing both x86 (32-bit) and x64 (64-bit) processor architectures.

Enterprises normally wait for the first service pack for new operating systems before rolling them out.

Microsoft says the benefit of SP1 is that virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) rollouts will be more efficient because WS 2008 R2 servers, through Microsoft's virtualisation engine Hyper-V, can support more virtualised instances of Windows 7 due to the RemoteFX and better memory management features.

RemoteFX allows virtualised Windows 7 clients to offload complex graphics onto server-installed graphics hardware, giving a better user experience.