Microsoft has begun offering Windows 7 Service Pack 1 via Windows Update today, as promised earlier in the month.
The 32-bit version of SP1 is around 755MB and the 64-bit edition comes in at around 1GB.
Says Microsoft:
Starting today, Windows 7 Service Pack 1 will be available to everyone via the Microsoft Download Center and [will] start rolling out via Windows Update.
If you prefer to have a disc, you can get one sent to you for $6 from Microsoft, including shipping.
The public beta of the SP was released in July 2010, and Microsoft launched the release candidate in October. The SP1 brings no new features, but is instead a collection of security patches and nonsecurity fixes already available through Windows Update.
Result for: public beta
Microsoft has finally, officially launched the public beta of Windows 7 SP1, giving users a chance to download the service pack.
In late June, the SP1 was leaked online, and is still circulating on torrent, P2P and warez sites. Additionally, a beta of the Windows Server 2008 R2 was leaked as well.
The SP1, as stated by Microsoft, is mainly a rollup of already-released hotfixes.
Says Microsoft’s Tammi Reller: “I am quite pleased today to announce the public beta availability of service pack 1 both for Windows Server 2008R2 as well as Windows 7. [For Windows 7 ] mostly it is minor updates that are available through Windows update.”
Businesses will be the main beneficiaries of the update, as they will finally be free to upgrade their corporate systems to a fully stable Windows 7, from XP and Vista.
Result for: public beta
Google has announced the public launch of Google Chrome for Macs today, with the first beta of the browser now available.
The Windows version was released last year and the Mac version was slated for May of this year but hit delays even prompting Google co-founder Sergey Brin to call Chrome’s absence on the Mac as an “embarrassment.”
The beta works on Macs with Intel processors only, and will require OS X 10.5 or higher.
“We’ve been working hard to deliver a first-class browser for the Mac — it took longer than we expected, but we hope the wait was worth it!” says Google. “We wanted Google Chrome to feel at home on the Mac, so we’ve focused on uniting our clean, simple design with subtle animations and effects to create a snappy and satisfying browsing experience on OS X. As you might expect, the speed of Google Chrome for Mac is something we’re very proud of. If you have a Mac, try installing the beta and see how fast it launches — there’s hardly even time for the icon in the dock to bounce!”
