What’s new in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 SP2?

There’s been some confusion about what is included in Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. For example, I saw somewhere that Hyper-V is supposedly added to Windows Vista in this release. It is not. Here’s what’s new: Windows Vista Inclusion of Windows Search 4.0 for improved indexing performance, broader indexing scenario inclusion, as well as new Group Policy integration for Windows Search Integration of the Windows Vista Feature Pack for Wireless which contains Bluetooth v2.1 support, the most recent specification for Bluetooth wireless technology Some graphics enhancement to reduce glitches when streaming high def content with specific hardware configurations Setup & Deployment improvements to detect incompatible drivers blocking service pack installations Provides a Service Pack Cleanup tool which helps restore the hard disk space by permanently deleting previous versions of files updated by SP2 Windows Server 2008 Inclusion of Microsoft’s Hyper-V technology for Server Backwards compatibility with Terminal Services licensing keys Better manageability features with DFS/FRS console, and Storage Resource Manager (i.e.: Quota Filter and File Screening Filter) Improved error reporting in DFSR to help identify incorrectly configured deployments which lead to failed replication Updated power policy driving significant Power Management improvements Just to be clear, the final version of Hyper-V is added to Windows Server 2008 as part of SP2; the original shipping version of Server 08 (“SP1”) included a pre-release version of Hyper-V. In short, don’t believe everything you read.