I just finished upgrading my demo lab Exchange 2010 server to SP1. The process was very straight forward, as you would expect, but there are a few things you should know:

1. At time of writing, Microsoft has not yet posted release notes. They made an announcement a while back on some features, but otherwise the install is a bit of a leap of faith!
2. There are schema extensions required for the upgrade. The installer addresses them for you, but you’ll need to be a Schema Admin. Remember, Schema updates are a one-way task and it would be a bad idea to update your production schema while the SP is still a beta.
3. You’ll need to install hotfix KB981002 on your Exchange servers prior to SP1 installation.

Remember ever since Exchange 2007, service packs are slipstreamed into the Exchange install only. Therefore the same file to update Exchange 2010 RTM would also be used to do a fresh Exchange 2010 SP1 (beta) installation.

Other Stuff I noticed:

• More Outlook Anywhere authentication options
• More phone and voice controls in the ECP
• Retention Policy tabs in EMC
• Assign Roles to users in EMC
• More Move-Request logs in EMC
• “Reset Virtual Directory” tool in EMC
• UM tools in the EMC Toolbox
• More flexibility with Archive Mailboxes (described in announcement above)
• UPDATE: The complete list: http://wp.me/pAAoj-2c

Some Pictures:

(Yes it took that long to install!)

(Note both SP1 and RTM version numbers)

(Copyright date updated on OWA login page)

(Themes in OWA!)