Microsoft prepares Windows 7 for external SP1 testing

[riso]

Similar to previous external beta service pack rollouts, Microsoft has enabled – via updates you already installed – a beta ‘candidacy check’ within its Windows Update software. Just like Windows Vista, a registry key and value pair need to be added prior to being authorized to download the new software.
Although I’ve documented the required key and value names, the value’s data (likely a GUID as before) remains unknown. The takeaway here is that external Windows 7 SP1 testing should commence soon, if it hasn’t already. Tips regarding the significance of the name SPORTM would be greatly appreciated.

Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Win7SP1
Value: SPORTM (REG_SZ)
Data: Unknown (likely a server-side checked GUID)