Word on the street is that Microsoft plans on finally releasing the first service pack for Windows Vista - that’s right, the long-awaited Windows Vista SP1 will be yours for the downloading in 24 hours. You’ll have to download it manually.

In a month’s time, on April 18, Vista SP1 will be added to the automatic update system. So the more casual bunch who rely on Windows Update for all their security needs will all come in under a second wave of installations. Here’s hoping for less crashing, better performance, and all that other good stuff. We’ve been waiting for this for over a year.

Speaking of which, those Vista price drops will also be going into effect this week. If you go ahead and install SP1, hit us up and let us know how it went in the comments.