Earlier this week, Microsoft announced it will be releasing the public beta of Service Pack 1 for both Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 by the end of July.

However, Microsoft is ostensibly mitigating the need for users to wait for Windows 7 SP1 by declaring that it will be an accumulation of Windows Updates rather than any new features for the seven-month-old operating system.

Microsoft's Gavriella Schuster noted that "While the new features for Windows Server 2008 R2 benefit Windows 7 by providing a richer VDI experience, SP1 will not contain any new features that are specific to Windows 7 itself. For Windows 7, SP1 will simply be the combination of updates already available through Windows Update and additional hotfixes based on feedback by our customers and partners. In other words, customers can feel confident about deploying Windows 7 now!"

The main improvements are pencilled in for Windows Server 2008 R2, which will be the recipient of two new features: RemoteFX and Dynamic memory, where Windows Server's virtualisation software will be improved to dynamically allocate memory to virtual machines. We imagine Microsoft hopes that the bolstering of Windows Server will give VMware a better run for its money.