As people who’ve already made (or attempted) the jump to Vista SP1 know, before you get to the actual service pack, you’ve gotta clear a gauntlet of pre-install updates, which started rolling out in Feb. One of the updates apparently sent some users into an endless spiral of reboots, so Microsoft hit pause on the auto-rollout. Two months later, it’s fixed! Microsoft now returns you to your regularly scheduled SP1 programming, which goes full-throttle automatic update next week.

I have a quick update for you about Windows Vista SP1. The Microsoft Update Blog contains some important information about updates to the SP1 prerequisite distribution plan. Starting tomorrow, we are resuming the automatic update and installation of the Servicing Stack Update.

In mid-April, we will begin distributing SP1 (in the first 5 languages) using the Automatic Update system. We have a lot of Windows users, so not everyone will get it on the same day. In fact, it will go to a small percentage of Windows Vista users each day. The exact timing of when you will receive it depends on when your PC is ready for Windows Vista SP1.

In addition to starting the automatic delivery of the first 5 languages, I wanted to take this opportunity to tell you that also we’re on track for the initial release of SP1 in the remaining languages in mid-April.