Microsoft had released the latest RC for Windows Vista Service Pack 2, which is scheduled to ship in April, on Microsoft Connect accessible to very few people. Many had been wondering when would the Redmond-based release this RC to public, but nobody knows for sure. At least, if you cannot wait any longer, here is one way to get it.

A website had hosted the latest update pack on their servers available to everyone connected.

Find it and download it.

http://www.ngohq.com/news/15507-windows-vista-service-pack-2-rc.html

Windows Vista Service Pack 2 Release Candicate (Build 16670.090130-1715 v.286) is an update to Windows Vista that addresses feedback from our customers and partners. By providing these fixes integrated into a single service pack, Microsoft provides a single high-quality update that minimizes deployment and testing complexity for customers. In addition to all previously released updates, SP2 will contain changes focused on addressing reliability and performance issues, supporting new kinds of hardware, and adding support for several emerging standards.

Update: It seems there is an installation bug with Windows Vista Service Pack 2. Installation may fail and show a 0xC004F013 error code under rare circumstances. To workaround this issue, download and install Microsoft’s System Update Readiness Tool (KB947821), run "slmgr.vbs -rearm", reboot and try installing SP2 again. I believe it has something to do with Vista’s installation/activation date.