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Microsoft® continuously improves the Windows Vista® x64 and Windows Server® 2008 x64 operating systems by providing ongoing updates while working with software and hardware vendors to help them deliver improved compatibility, reliability, and performance. These updates are provided to customers by Microsoft’s hardware and software partners, as well as directly from Microsoft in the form of regularly distributed updates delivered via Windows Update. Updates to Windows are also delivered directly to some affected customers and preinstalled by computer manufacturers.

Windows Vista SP2 x64 and Windows Server 2008 SP2 x64 are updates to Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 that address feedback from our customers and partners. By providing these fixes integrated into a single service pack, which will be thoroughly tested by Microsoft and by industry partners and customers during the pre-release cycle, Microsoft provides a single high-quality update that minimizes deployment and testing complexity for customers.

In addition to all previously released updates, SP2 x64 will contain changes focused on supporting new types of hardware and adding support for several emerging standards. SP2 will also continue to make it easier for IT administrators to deploy and manage large installations of Windows Vista x64 and Windows Server 2008 x64.

Changes in SP2 x64:

* Application compatibility improvements
Thanks to the rich instrumentation capability of Windows operating systems, we are able to understand the types of issues that our customers experience while respecting their personal information and privacy preferences. We use this information to focus improvements in Windows, but we also share this information with our software vendor partners to help improve the reliability and compatibility of non-Microsoft applications. For example, in SP2, Spysweeper and ZoneAlarm, now work with POP3 e-mail accounts.

* Hardware ecosystem support and enhancements
- SP2 adds support for the 64-bit central processing unit (CPU) from VIA Technologies
- SP2 integrates the Windows Vista Feature Pack for Wireless
- SP2 improves performance for Wi-Fi connections
- SP2 includes updates to the RSS feeds sidebar
- SP2 includes ability to record data to Blu-Ray Disc

* Operating system experience updates
- SP2 includes Windows Search 4.0, which builds on Microsoft’s search technology with improved indexing and search relevance.
- SP2 improves Windows Media Center (WMC)
- SP2 removes the limit of 10 half open outbound TCP connections

* Enterprise improvements
- SP2 provides the Hyper-V virtualization
- SP2 increases the authentication options for WebDAV redirector
- SP2 provides an improved power management
- SP2 improves backwards compatibility for Terminal Server license keys

* Setup and deployment improvements

SP2 also includes a Service Pack Clean-up tool (Compcln.exe) which helps recover the hard disk space by permanently deleting previous versions of files (RTM and SP1) that are being serviced by SP2. The Service Pack Clean up tool can also be run offline while creating slipstream images to reduce the size of the image.

Conclusion
SP2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 represents Microsoft’s continuing commitment to quality. While most updates contained in SP2 are available as individual downloads, the roll-up convenience of SP2 is a major benefit for administrators.