Update: Just like that, the page has been pulled! Hopefully we'll still see the update soon - it'd be embarrassing to have this drama drag on any longer.

Looks like Kies Mini is the path Samsung has decided to take with the Galaxy S Froyo updates (at least in the US) - first, the Vibrant got its 2.2 fix via the Windows-only software, and now it appears that the Captivate will soon join the club. That's right: according to a recently published page on Samsung's own support site, Android 2.2 for the Captivate will roll out via Kies Mini rather than a standard OTA method.

To be clear, the actual update isn't available yet, but hopefully the fact that this page was posted indicates that it's right around the corner - you don't want owners of your own Captivate to lust after the T-Mobile Vibrant, do you, AT&T?

Complete changelog:

  • Home Screen:
    • New Home screen tips widget assists new users on how to configure the home screen with shortcuts and widgets and how to make use of multiple home screens.
    • And if your zoom in with two-finger in the home screen, all panels are shown in one screen and the end user can remove the panel and/or add. The max panel number is 7.
    • The Phone, applications launcherm contacts and messaging now have dedicated shortcuts on the Home screen, making it easy to access them from any of the 7 home screen panels.
  • Exchange Support
    • Improved security with the addition of numeric pin or alpha-numeric password options to unlock device. Exchange administrators can enforce password policy across devices.
    • Remote wipe: Exchange administrators can remotely reset the device to factory defaults to secure data in case device is lost or stolen.
    • Auto-discovery: you just need to know your user-name and password to easily set up and sync an Exchange account (available for Exchange 2007 and higher).
    • Global Address Lists look-up is now available in the Email application, enabling users to auto-complete recipient names from the directory.
  • Camera/Camcorder
    • Camera/Camcorder is provided Self timer function.
    • Thumbnail image is displayed in preview right bottom screen.
  • Portable Hotspot
    • Wireless Modem has been changed to Portable Wi-Fi Hotspot.
    • Clients that can connect to the hotspot at the same time has been increased from 1 to 5.
    • Managing Devices and Battery Management has been added.
  • USB Tethering
    • By connecting USB cable, the phone can now be used as a modem
  • Improved Performance
    • Performance of the browser has been enhanced using the V8 engine, which enables faster loading of JavaScript-heavy pages.
    • Dalvik Performance Boost: 2x-5x performance speedup for CPU-heavy code over Android 2.1 with Dalvik JIT.
    • The graph to the right shows the performance speedup from Android 2.1 to Android 2.2 using various benchmark tests. For example, LinPack is now more than 5 times faster.
    • Kernel Memory Management Boost: Improved memory reclaim by up to 20x, which results in faster app switching and smoother performance on memory-constrained devices.
  • Device Policy Manager
    • New device policy management APIs allow developers to write "device administrator" applications that can control security features on the device, such as the minimum password strength, data wipe, and so on. Users can select the administrators that are enabled on their devices.
  • GMS Updates
    • GoogleQuickSearchBox, GenieWidget(News and Weather ) are newly added.
  • Data Backup
    • Apps can participate in data backup and restore, to ensure that users maintain their data after performing a factory reset or when switching devices.
  • Flash Player
    • Device supports Flash Player 10.1
  • Lock Screen
    • New lock screen mode for entering a numeric pin or alphanumeric password
  • Application On External Storage
    • Ability to store and run non-forward locked apps on the SD card
  • Media Framework
    • New media framework (Stagefright) that supports local file playback and HTTP progressive streaming
  • Kernel Upgrade
    • SDIO scheduling and BT improvements

Source: Samsung; Image Credit: Erictric

Thanks for the tip, Chris!