Microsoft users are facing good news and bad news. The bad news: Microsoft had issues with its update process again as it prepared to launch the final version of its first Service Pack for the Windows Vista operating system. The good news: After addressing the glitch, Microsoft turned on a dime and made SP1 available to the public on Friday.

The drama began early last week when Microsoft accidentally sent a patch to some users running the Windows operating system. Specifically, Microsoft issued a Vista update to prepare PCs for a future release of Vista Service Pack 1.

The update marked one of three prerequisites for SP1 and was intended for delivery only to Vista Enterprise and Vista Ultimate machines. The update targeted BitLocker, a full-drive encryption technology Microsoft bundles with premium editions of its latest operating system. However, the update was also delivered to PCs running Vista Home Basic and Home Premium.

Microsoft’s Update Faux Pas

“We had a small number of early customer reports, that in some cases, this update was being offered for installation on all Windows Vista editions versus just Ultimate and Enterprise,” an unidentified poster wrote on the Microsoft company blog authored by the Windows Update development team.

“For systems set to download and install updates automatically, the update will not install even if it has already downloaded, so most people will not be affected by this,” the post continued. “Customers who installed the initial release of the update on editions other than Ultimate or Enterprise should not be concerned as the update will have no negative impact on their systems.”

Although none of the Home users have reported problems, this is not the first glitch Microsoft has seen in its update system. In September, Windows users watched as update code was automatically updated on their PCs without their instruction….