Following on from the CTP release of SP1 in February, Microsoft announced the official release SQL Server 2008 SP1 yesterday and is now available for download in the Microsoft Download Center:

Download SQL Server 2008 SP1

The SP1 release is “primarily a roll-up of previous cumulative updates, quick fix engineering updates and minor fixes made in response to requests reported through the SQL Server community. While there are no new features in this service pack, customers running SQL Server 2008 should download and install SP1 to take advantage of the fixes which increase supportability and stability of SQL Server 2008” as confirmed by Microsoft’s Data Platform Insider blog announcement.

SP1 can be slipstreamed into new deployments of SQL Server 2008 for easier management. From the release notes:

What's New in Service Pack 1

• Slipstreaming is an installation method that integrates the base installation files for a program with its service packs and enables them to be installed in a single step. You can slipstream a SQL Server 2008 update and the original installation media so that original media and the update are installed at the same time. The update setup documentation available from the Download Center has the most recent description of the slipstream process. The update setup documentation is also available at MSDN.
• You can uninstall SQL Server 2008 cumulative updates or service packs from Programs and Features in Control Panel. For more information, see "Overview of SQL Server Servicing Installation" in the update help file.
• SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 1 provides a ClickOnce version of Report Builder 2.0. Report Builder is available for use in Reporting Services (SSRS) installed in native or SharePoint integrated mode. If SSRS is installed in SharePoint integrated mode, you need to install the add-in, Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Report Builder 2.0 ClickOnce for SharePoint, to make Report Builder 2.0 ClickOnce available from a SharePoint site. For more information, see the Report Builder 2.0 ClickOnce for SharePoint Readme.

Of particular interest for Business Intelligence, we’ve also got “April 2009” refreshes of several key associated downloads:

• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services Add-in for Microsoft SharePoint Technologies, April 2009
  The Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services Add-in for Microsoft SharePoint Technologies is a Web download that provides features for running a report server within a larger deployment of Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 or Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007
• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Feature Pack, April 2009
  Download the Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Feature Pack, a collection of stand-alone install packages that provide additional value for SQL Server 2008.
• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Data Mining Add-ins for Microsoft Office 2007, April 2009
  Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Data Mining Add-ins for Microsoft Office 2007 (Data Mining Add-ins) helps you take advantage of SQL Server 2008 predictive analytics in Office Excel 2007 and Office Visio 2007. The download includes the following components:
• Table Analysis Tools for Excel: This add-in provides easy-to-use tasks that leverage SQL Server 2008 Data Mining to perform powerful analytics on your spreadsheet data, without requiring you to learn any data mining concepts.
• Data Mining Client for Excel: By using this add-in, you can create, test, explore, and manage data mining models within Excel 2007 using either your spreadsheet data or external data accessible through your SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services instance.
• Data Mining Templates for Visio: This add-in enables you to render and share your mining models as annotatable Visio 2007 drawings.

For more information about the Data Mining add-in, visit these useful resources on Microsoft’s SQL Server 2008 site.