This weeked the Exchange team released the public beta of Service Pack 1 for Microsoft Exchange Server 2010.

You can download the Exchange 2010 SP1 Beta here.

For those still unaware, the 500Mb+ file contains the full set of binaries; you can use it to upgrade existing RTM installations but can also deploy new Exchange 2010 SP1 Beta installations.

Note that when you want to install SP1 Beta on an Exchange Server holding the Client Access Server role, on top of Windows Server 2008 R2, you first need to install hotfix 981002 – Windows Communication Foundation in the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. You can download this hotfix here.

With the release of SP1 Beta Microsoft also released updates of the following documents and kits (list might be incomplete):

• Exchange Server Active Directory Schema Changes Reference Jun2010. Note that this document and release notes don’t mention “beta”, so I assume the SP1 schema changes contained herein are more or less final;
• Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 SP1 Beta Protocol Documentation (v6.0);
• Exchange Web Services Managed API 1.1 (Beta);
• Exchange Server 2010 SP1 Beta Web Services SDK June 2010;
• Exchange Server 2010 SP1 Beta Transport Agents SDK June 2010;
• Exchange Server 2010 SP1 Beta Backup and Restore SDK June 2010.

Note: As always with beta code, it is advised to use it on non-production systems only.

Update: The Exchange Team blogged on the Exchange 2010 SP1 Beta availability and confirmed included updates mentioned earlier, e.g. archiving and discovery enhancements, OWA improvements, upgraded mobility features and Management Console improvements. Still no Release Notes though, but the team also mentioned that Exchange 2007 SP3 is imminent.