Window 7 service pack is now available for download from Microsoft along with Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta, and is important to understand the resources that the upgrade requires of early adopters for testing. Obviously, end users or business customers that want to take SP1 out for a spin, need to already have copies of Windows 7 RTM and Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM in place, as there are no slipstream versions of Windows 7 SP1 or Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 available. And then, there’s the matter of the machines on which the upgrade will be tested.

According to Microsoft, the Windows 7 Minimum System Requirements involve: “1 GHz or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor; 1 GB of RAM (32-bit) / 2 GB RAM (64-bit); 16 GB available disk space (32-bit) / 20 GB (64-bit); DirectX 9 graphics processor with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver; DVD-compatible drive and Internet access.”

The world's No 1 software maker, which recently launched touchscreen OS Windows 7, has cash and short-term investments worth $36.1 billion. The company's total assets are valued at $82.1 billion. Microsoft recently reported a 35 per cent jump in Net income for the first quarter. For the January-March fiscal third quarter, Microsoft earned $4.01 billion, or 45 cents per share. It was an increase from $2.98 billion, or 33 cents per share, a year ago.