Where previous Vista SP1 talk seemed to indicate a 2007 release, new talk points towards 2008. Vista was delayed when they tried to cram to much into it, and ended up pulling some of those features out. Is SP1 being delayed for the same reason?

I mentioned previously, that in an e-mail to it’s Technology Adoption Partners, Microsoft confirms that it is preparing SP1 for release in the second half of 2007. Now, in a just released “Joint Status Report on Microsoft’s Compliance with the Final Judgements“, which is part of the antitrust judgment against Microsoft, Microsoft states:

Microsoft will deliver the required changes in Service Pack 1 of Windows Vista, which Microsoft currently anticipates will be available in beta form by the end of the year.

Google filed a complaint that Vista’s Instant Search “violated the consent decree that monitors Microsoft’s conduct as part of its settlement with the government“. Microsoft responded by saying it will modify Instant Search to allow users to choose other desktop search programs. Is this why SP1 is taking longer, so they can wrap in a solution to this problem as well? If they’re only talking beta by the end of the year, they most certainly won’t go Gold by the previously targeted ‘Second half of 2007′.