After the storm of announcements from Microsoft at PDC, WinHEC and TechEd EMEA it’s been a quiet few weeks but, for those who haven’t seen, Microsoft announced that the Windows Vista and Server 2008 Service Pack 2 beta will be opened up to a wider audience, starting with TechNet and MSDN subscribers at 14:00 tomorrow (I guess that’s Redmond time, so 22:00 here in the UK) and then via a broader customer preview programme (CPP) on Thursday (4 December).

This release is intended for technology enthusiasts, developers, and administrators who would like to test SP2 in their environments and with their applications prior to final release and, for most customers, Microsoft’s advice is to wait until the final release prior to installing this update.

Full details of the changes in the SP2 beta may be found in Microsoft’s Windows Server TechCenter.

Microsoft also announced the date that they are aiming for (not a firm commitment) – SP2 should be expected in the first half of 2009.