According to a Microsoft support page, the imaginatively named KB976902 (Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 installation software feature update) makes changes to the operating system's servicing stack, needed to install and remove software updates, language packs, optional Windows features, and service packs.
''This update is necessary to successfully install and to remove any service packs to all versions of Windows 7 and on Windows Server 2008 R2,'' the page reads.
Given Microsoft's fondness for releasing service packs on either a Monday or a Tuesday - Windows Vista Service Pack 2 and Windows XP Service Pack 3 were both released on Tuesdays, XP Service Pack 1 on a Monday - the soonest Windows 7 Service Pack 1 is likely to be available is January 18.
Businesses can continue to use a blocker tool released in November last year until they are ready to deploy Service Pack 1.
