First Vista service pack planned

Windows Vista is not even fully out the door but Redmond is already laying the groundwork for its first service pack release of bug fixes and other enhancements for the operating system.

The software maker has put out a call for businesses that want to be early testers of the software. A Microsoft representative said in an email: "Interested customers should contact their Technical Account Manager at Microsoft to get nominated."

Windows Vista doesn't hit retail shelves until next week, though it has been on sale to large businesses since November.

Understandably, the company has not finalised what it will deliver in the first service pack, though the software maker outlined an update that is more similar to Windows XP Service Pack 1 and other minor updates than to Windows XP Service Pack 2, which was a fairly major overhaul of the operating system.

The representative said: "We expect Windows Vista SP1 to be a standard service pack that will include security updates and hot fixes, as well as limited other changes focused on improving overall quality."

Microsoft said it was "too early to provide any firm date range" for SP1 but said: "In general, we expect the first service pack for Windows Vista to be released in a time frame similar to that of service packs for previous versions of Windows."

Windows XP Service Pack 1 arrived in September 2002, 11 months after XP's initial debut.

Microsoft's call for business testers was first reported by APCmag.com.

Ina Fried writes for CNET News.com