Windows 7 SP1 RTM will be released in Q1 of 2011

TNW Quick Hit:

What: The RTM version of Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) will be released in the first quarter of 2011, not in the first half of the year as previously quoted by Microsoft.

Why it matters: With more than 240 million installs of Windows 7 in the world, and with that number growing like a weed, the expectation for the release is huge, even if it itself is hardly more than a glorified patch.

What it contains: In the words of Microsoft: “the only new features added to the SP1 are […] virtualization technologies, Dynamic Memory and RemoteFX.”

In short, Windows 7 users should expect to get their hands on “the final version” of SP1 “in first quarter of calendar year 2011.” Oh, and Microsoft wants to make it plain that the Service Pack is no big deal, and that “Windows 7 is ready now, so customers should not wait for SP1 to deploy!”

Or, in other words, Microsoft is trying to clear the history that service packs have played in the past, an attempt to tell people that unlike Windows XP, Windows 7 was nearly perfect from day 1.