Microsoft has announced the first service pack for Windows 7, but has yet to reveal when a beta will be available to users.

The software giant said Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) will primarily contain "minor updates", including patches and hotfixes rather than new features.

"For Windows 7, SP1 includes only minor updates, among which are previous updates that are already delivered through Windows Update," said Microsoft community manager Brandon LeBlanc.

Windows 7 SP1"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 added.

Windows 7 SP1 will be released at the same time as Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, Microsoft said.

As well as RemoteFX, a new remote-access platform for Windows Server 2008 R2, SP1 of the server-side OS will include a feature called Dynamic Memory, which lets IT staff adjust guest virtual machines' memory on the fly.

However, Windows 7 users may have to wait until the end of the year to get their hands on the update. Earlier this month, Malaysian website TechArp, which has regularly predicted release dates for Windows and its service packs in the past, said Microsoft had shelved plans for a 22-month development cycle for Windows 7 SP1, and would instead release it in Q4.