Microsoft quickly closed the hole that allowed all users with a fully patched English version of Windows Vista to download the Windows Vista Service Pack 1 through Windows Update. What they did however as well was to open another way for their beta testers to download the service pack which is now available for everyone again.
If you want to download and test Windows Vista SP1 you can do so with a few Registry tweaks. At the end Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Beta 6001.17036 v. 652 should be available and ready for download.
Please be aware that this is a beta version of the new service pack. It could lead to problems and should only be downloaded by users who know how to fix them.

Download a zip here which contains the necessary registry keys to allow the computer to download Windows Vista SP1 through Windows Update. Take a look at it first, maybe backup your Registry.
Execute that bat file as an administrator by right-clicking it and selecting Run As Administrator. Start Wndows Update afterwards and go through the process three times in total downloading (KB935509) - v1.005, (KB937287) -Build 6001.17036 (x86) and (KB938371) v1.018 in each consecutive try.
The computer has to be rebooted after every try which means that you start Windows Updates three times and reboot the computer as many times as well. Once this is done you start Windows Update once again and Windows Vista SP1 Beta - 6001.17036 (x86) should appear on that list.
Download it as well and reboot the computer afterwards. Et Voila, the Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Beta has been installed on your system.
Users who already have an older version of the Service Pack 1 installed have to uninstall it before they can download the new one. Just use the normal way to uninstall a software.
Special thanks to FredBone and The Hotfix
Update:
The SP1 beta is no longer available, take a look at Download Windows Vista SP1 RC1 for the newest working hack.
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