Is Microsoft really shipping Windows Server 2008 with Service Pack 1 installed or is this another Microsoft marketing debacle?

Microsoft’s director of project management for Windows Server, Iain McDonald, recently announced on his blog that Microsoft will be shipping Windows Server 2008 with Service Pack 1 already installed. According to his post this is an attempt to keep both Vista and Windows Server 2008 on the same core code base and synchronize release schedules for future patches and service packs. 

I don’t doubt that there is a legitimate need at Microsoft to reorganize and streamline the builds, maintenance and support of the operating system code base, ultimately the benefits of this could yield a much higher quality product. Additionally, if both products derive from the same Vista code base it would make sense to release patches, especially hot fixes for security vulnerabilities at the same time.

All of this sounds like a step in the right direction from an internal Microsoft perspective, an operations management and process improvement strategy to increase the quality of Windows products and support. However I don’t think a new product should ever be released and labeled with a service pack, it’s like skipping v1.0 to v1.1, is that to say that Windows Vista could or should be running in a server capacity? There are a number of potential issues here:

1. Will there be a single Service Pack 1 instance? And will this sole instance cover fixes for both Vista and Windows Server 2008? This could be a potentially confusing space for customers.
2. If these products are so closely related that service packs, hot fixes and release schedules will occur in unison, why not call it Vista Server or Vista Server 2008?
3. Vista has had an underwhelming acceptance from both the consumer and IT business markets, branding the server product similarly to the client product could create stereotypes Microsoft wants to avoid.
4. The IT practice of “wait until Service Pack 1 is released” has typically influenced the rate of adoption, but this looks like a red herring from Microsoft marketing to accelerate the adoption rate for Windows Server 2008.
5. Branding a release with Service Pack 1 insinuates that the product has been in production, not the collective fixes resulting from beta testing.
6. The roles and usage of Vista and Windows Server 2008 are completely separate models. Do we really need Aero glass and Dream Scene on the server? ;)
7. The server release has always followed the client and most likely always will. So does this mean all future Windows Server products will release with SP1 or even a SP2?

I think nearly all customers view both Vista and Windows Server 2008 as separate Windows products, despite whether one is derived from the other.

The bottom line, it makes sense to fix a car before it leaves the plant instead of issuing a re-call. If it improves the quality and delivery of the software it’s a great thing, but at the same time it appears Microsoft still doesn’t know how to market and version their own products. I think it’s safe to say most IT managers will wait for Service Pack 2.

Perhaps this helps to validate Joel Spolsky’s post?

The big launch day is on February 27th.