Windows 7 is not quite five months and about 100 million sold copies old, but it is already time to carefully prepare users for the first service pack. There will be some “minor” updates and one significant upgrade to the Remote Desktop client.

Microsoft’s Windows blogger Brandon LeBlanc said it is really no big deal and he can’t say very much anyway. But, just for the record, the company is working on SP1 and the main content is apparently determined.

“For Windows 7, SP1 includes only minor updates, among which are previous updates that are already delivered through Windows Update,” he wrote. “SP1 for Windows 7 will, however, deliver an updated Remote Desktop client that takes advantage of RemoteFX introduced in the server-side with SP1 for Windows Server 2008 R2.”

He did not forget to mention that the upcoming SP1 is no reason to wait with the installation of Windows 7, especially in corporate environments: “Windows 7 is ready for commercial deployments now and many industry experts have recommended that customers do not wait for SP1. Many organizations are already in the process of deploying and are receiving benefits from their Windows 7 deployment.” And if you want, you can follow LeBlanc’s links to some case studies why companies should move to Windows 7 now.

There is no release time line for Windows 7 at this time. “We’re not yet announcing a beta or release timeline for SP1 for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 today,” he wrote. “ Once SP1 for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 is released, the service pack will be delivered through Windows Update and be available on Microsoft Download Center for download as well.”

In fact, Windows 7 has been selling very well, apparently at a pace that exceeds Windows Vista by a sunbstantial margin. Microsoft said that it had sold about 60 million copies within the first two months, which, however, included pre-release sales valued at about $1.7 billion or about 25 – 35 million units. By the end of February, unit sales had climbed to 90 million, translating into a current pace of about 15 million units per month, which means that Windows 7 should be in the neighborhood of the 100 million mark just about now.

In comparison, Windows Vista sold 60 million units in its first six months of availability, including pre-sales. At that time, Vista was selling at a rate of about 6.7 million units per month.

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