According to Mary-Jo we should see the release of Beta 1 the week of July 16th, with the final release in November of this year, right around the launch of Windows Server 2008.  Based on this release schedule this would give Microsoft a Beta window of only 4-5 months! 

Some of the expectations for SP1? 

• Zippier copy of files!
• Desktop search modification to please Google
• EFI boot capability for 64bit
• Shutdown speed
• BitLocker to allow a single volume to be encrypted

Regards,
Anthony

Anthony Clendenen | Solutions Engineer | 1E Inc.

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