Microsoft to Release Storage Feature Pack for Vista

Microsoft is getting ready to roll out a new storage feature pack for Windows Vista. This pack will add new Blu-Ray media and smart-card driver functionality to Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008. The feature pack for Storage 1.0 won’t be the first Vista feature pack. Microsoft has released, optical feature pack, a wireless feature pack and few also consider the recently released “Fiji” Windows Media Center TV Pack a feature pack.

There are 3 technologies available for this Release-Each will have its own installer:

• Active Storage Platform: This pre-release package enables the Windows platform to restrict access to portable devices (such as a USB Flash Device) via a certificate or password authentication based on the IEEE 1667 standard specification.
• Image Mastering API update for Blu-Ray media: This feature enables the Windows platform to do master style optical burning on Blu-Ray media.
• Smart Card Driver: This release provides support for new form factors, such as ICCD/CCID.

Unlike Service packs, feature packs gives more features to existing operating systems before the release of new OS.

Source [Via Neowin]