Get ready for Windows 7 SP1 - Hits Windows Update on February 22nd

Microsoft has finished work on Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) and will begin pushing the update to systems on February 22nd via Windows Update.

Microsoft has today hit the RTM (Release to Manufacturing) stage for both Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 and has started shipping the code to OEMs.

If you are a TechNet or MSDN subscriber you will be able to get your hands on the code from February 16th.

So what's new:

For Windows 7, SP1 will help keep your PCs well supported by delivering ongoing updates, many of which have been made previously available through Windows Update. It also includes client-side support for RemoteFX and Dynamic Memory which are two new virtualization features enabled in Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1. Read more about those updates here from the Windows Server Team.

In my experimenting with the beta and leaked versions of SP1 for Windows 7, there's no new cool stuff to see, no UI tweaks and no performance boosts. This is primarily a bugfix release that brings together all the patches and updates released so far.

The virtualization features however, are compelling and should help to reduce the system load and increase virtualization density on servers. Good news all round.