Word reached us from Microsoft today that the long awaited Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista has been released to manufacturing. According to Microsoft, they have taken great strides to improve reliability and security in Vista with the release of Service Pack 1. The improvements were possible in part to a long six-month Beta cycle that really did help Microsoft pinpoint and correct many bugs that had plagued Vista users since its release.

While Service Pack 1 for Vista went Gold today, you will not be able to get it until March, according to Microsoft. Microsoft will then release Service Pack 1 to users who have automatic updates within Vista turned on. Of course, according to Microsoft, users that have systems with problematic drivers that have known problems will not be able to upgrade to Service Pack 1 until they first update their drivers. Microsoft claims that this safeguard will help users have a better upgrade experience.