Microsoft has released a near-final version of Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2) for its TechNet and MSDN subscribers.

The firm said that it would make the release candidate of Vista SP2 publicly available in the very near future. As we reported last week, it was widely expected that the RC would land imminently.

The company additionally announced that its TechNet and MSDN subscribers could also now test out a release candidate version of Windows Server 2008 SP2.

“In the very near future, we will be making the RC broadly available for anyone to download and test. You can expect another blog post from me when that happens,” wrote Microsoft’s Brandon LeBlanc on Microsoft’s corporate blog.

The service pack for Vista and Windows Server 2008 comes loaded with updates as well as support for hardware and what LeBlanc described as “emerging standards”.

He also reiterated that Redmond plans to bring out SP2 for both products in the second quarter of this year. Many are predicting that the service pack will land in April. ®

Related stories

• Vista SP2 release candidate gets public airing (5 March 2009)
• Vista SP2 release candidate imminent? (20 February 2009)
• Woman sues over Vista to XP 'downgrade' charge (16 February 2009)
• Windows Vista stuck on single digit enterprise adoption (2 February 2009)
• Microsoft says it again - no second beta for Windows 7 (2 February 2009)
• Microsoft's Windows Vista 'Capable' bill could hit $8.5bn (26 January 2009)
• Windows 7 public beta end date named (26 January 2009)