A recent screenshot posted on a Russian news portal (via Download Squad) suggests that Microsoft is already working on the first service pack for Windows 7. That should come as a surprise considering that they have not released the operating system yet. The screenshot shows a control panel window that is listing the Windows edition as Windows 7 Ultimate Service Pack 1.
The build string in the lower right corner contains removed and censored information. Readable are part of the buidl string which begins with Build 7138.winmain_win. Someone edited some of the information on the screenshot which could mean that the information about the service pack have also been added by the user.
It does make sense from a business perspective to begin working on the Windows 7 Service Pack at this time if the resources are available. Microsoft could use it to add new features to the operating system that did not make it into the final product.
The public relations perspective on the other hand looks grim. News about the service pack will without doubt spread fast to all corners of the Internet. This could convince some users to wait for the Service Pack release before they purchase the operating system.
Windows 7 is on the other hand a fairly stable well designed operating system that should run fine even without the service pack.
What are your thoughts about the Windows 7 SP1 development?
