It hasn't gotten nearly the amount of buzz that Vista Service Pack 1 got last year, but the Windows Vista SP2 is now available for download.

Right now, Vista SP2 is an optional download, most easily downloaded by visiting the Microsoft download site and grabbing it manually (it's a 348MB download, but downloads this morning are going quickly), and if all goes well it will begin being automatically delivered by Windows Update (in a more compact form), likely within a few weeks. (SP2 is also supposed to be available as an optional update via Windows Update, but I'm not seeing it there just yet. Be warned that after downloading, installation can take an hour or more to complete.

Also note that unlike most other Windows Service Packs, in this case you will need to have Vista SP1 already installed in order to install SP2, so make sure you already have that update before proceeding. (Check the System Control Panel if you don't know for sure.)

What's in SP2? Mostly the usual stuff, with no notable new features being added: New drivers, application compatibility updates, and a whole bunch of bug fixes make up the bulk of the update. Nearly 700 repairs are listed in Microsoft's list of SP2 hotfixes and security updates, the vast majority of which have not been repaired already via Windows Update. That said, none of these fixes should cause you immediate alarm (you've been living with them for years, anyway), as most represent very rare bugs that only a small percentage of users will ever encounter (example: "The optical disc drive is intermittently not displayed on a ThinkPad X300 computer that is running Windows Vista.") Still, there's no reason not to fix them.

I'm running the update and have encountered no problems to date; will update this post if I do. Of course, if you have trouble with Vista SP2, please let us all know in the comments section below!