On Tuesday, March 18, Microsoft made Windows Vista SP1 available for download through its website and Windows Update. This article will go over what improvements this initial Service Pack will bring to current Vista users along with the issues that potential users should be aware of before downloading it. Vista hasn't exactly been the toast of the town since its release last year, so we'll see what SP1 does to alter people's perceptions.
Contributed by Michael Lowry Rating: / 3 April 08, 2008
I recently wrote an article covering the price cuts made to retail versions of Vista and the possible causes. What I found out was that Vista seemed to be lacking in terms of hardware compatibility and the overall user experience. Additionally, Microsoft was steeped in a cover-up scandal regarding Vista's “capability” right around the time the cuts were announced. But this is all past (of course, so was the last paragraph, but I digress) and SP1 should be given a chance to prove itself. After all, it's supposed to make Vista better. How much better? We'll have to see.
As it stands now, SP1 is only available in English, Spanish, German, French, and Japanese. The remaining languages are expected to become available this month. Coincidentally, this is also when SP1 will be obtainable through automatic update. Its major improvements focus mainly on reliability and performance, support for new hardware and standards, and administration experience. A lot of the information I give about these three areas will have come from an article, by Mark Edward Soper of informIT.com. The article has much more technical detail than I will be giving here, so I urge you to check it out.
As far as the performance improvements are concerned, SP1 addresses many of the complaints attributed to Vista RTM (Released to Manufacture – the original version), such as its file copy operations and network file share browsing. Soper lists the following performance improvements:
Faster file copying to and extraction from compressed (zipped) folders
Faster file copying when using BITS
25% faster file copying on the same machine
45% faster remote copying from a non-Vista SP1 system to a Vista SP1 system
50% faster remote copying between Vista SP1 systems
More accurate estimates of file copying time
Less bandwidth used when browsing network shares
Better use of bandwidth when Remote Desktop Protocol is in use
Moves folders with complex structures faster
Responds better to Copy + Delete files and other media operations
Reads large images 50% faster
Better IE7 performance on sites using a lot of JavaScript
Faster booting with specific ReadyDrive-capable hard disks
Resume is faster when ReadyBoost is used
Better Superfetch performance
Improvements in the shutdown, resume from standby, and unlocking PC operations
The next section will cover the new hardware/software support, the improvements in administration experience, and some other tidbits that could be of interest to you.
Soper notes the following hardware supported by SP1, starting with those who use flash memory devices:
The ExFAT file system -
Allows the file system to handle capacities of 32 GB and higher
Handles 1000+ files in a single directory
File sizes can be larger than 4 GB
Faster storage allocation
Interoperability between desktop PCs and portable media devices and between future desktop operating systems
...those who use Multimedia on Home Premium or Ultimate:
Windows Media center now works with new Extensors, which allows for HDTV and home theater systems to view pictures and videos or play music stored on a networked PC.
...those who use the latest gaming video cards:
DirectX 10.1 is now supported. It improves 3D rendering, while maintaining backward compatibility with original DirectX 10 hardware. From now on, graphics cards will be required to support DirectX 10.1.
The software support mainly has to do with improving network connections, since most systems rely on them nowadays. The following improvements will benefit everyone:
Support for IEEE 802.11n Draft 2 wireless networks – most experts claim that this technology will enable users to go beyond traditional wired Ethernet LANs.
IPv6 over VPN connections
...and these will most likely benefit business types:
More reliable IPSec connections over IPv6, because Neighbor Discovery is excluded from IPSec traffic.
Support for SSTP VPN tunneling, which makes it possible to set up a VPN connection over firewalls that normally block VPN traffic.
The administration improvements were not huge, but they do help Vista become more open and transparent in terms of its operation. Here are some of the more significant improvements:
The Search window on the Start menu only searches for matches in the Start menu and programs. Additional matches can be found through the Search Everywhere feature. This allows users to use third party desktop search programs and OEMs to more easily customize their systems.
When you create a folder in a protected location, only one User Account Control nag is used, instead of four as in Vista RTM.
The System properties sheet now shows the amount of system memory and not just the amount available to Vista. Also, 4 GB of RAM will be reported in 32-bit systems (if the BIOS permits it), even though 32 bit versions can't use more than 3 GB of RAM.
After the deadline for system activation has passed, it will not go into Reduced Functionality Mode. The user will be reminded to activate the system and the background will turn black. However, common exploits to get around activation will be blocked.
These are the most important improvements as I see them. However, there are definitely much more worth looking at, so be sure to visit the link I gave earlier to the Soper article and peruse the full set of improvements for yourself.
The next section will go over the most recent user experiences thus far.
I mentioned earlier that a lot of the problems that have been associated with Vista are due to hardware compatibility, or the lack thereof. If you lack the drivers necessary to install Vista, how will you even know whether it's a quality OS or a disappointment? The deployment of SP1 has again brought this issue to the forefront, because some drivers that work in Vista will not work with SP1. Here we go again. However, some drivers have been updated. Microsoft product manager Nick White had this to say:
We're working with the providers of the remaining devices to get updated versions of the drivers to our customers as well. In the meantime, Windows Update will recognize PCs with drivers that may be problematic and postpone offering SP1 to those PCs until it has installed corrected drivers or other applicable updates.
Next comes actually downloading SP1. Downloading anything from Microsoft requires a bit of patience and luck. So you gotta to ask yourself one question: do I really want SP1? Well? Do ya, punk? If you do, there are several ways to do it. The first is through Windows Update: click Start -> All Programs -> Windows Update. You can also go through Control Panel -> System and Maintenance -> Windows Update -> Check for Updates.
If updates don't work for you, you can download it from Microsoft's download page. This page will provide a link to the full installer along with several other ways to obtain SP1. The file is almost half a gigabyte, so it may take a while on slower connections. If it still doesn't work, Microsoft has provided a list of reasons why this might be so, including a list of problematic device drivers. Of course, this begs the question as to why so many device drivers are being labeled problematic, and at the same time, not being updated.
One answer may be that some device driver updates are solely in the hands of OEMs and it could be some time before the likes of Dell or Gateway begin to distribute updates. One good thing is that Microsoft has now offered free support to anyone with issues regarding SP1. I will go over this free support option in more detail in the next section.
Because many users have encountered problems trying to transition to SP1, such as endless reboot cycles and broken applications, along with others, some of which I've already mentioned, Microsoft has offered free support to anyone with Vista. According to the Microsoft SP1 support site, unlimited installation and compatibility support will be available for free until March 18, 2009.
There are three free support options for users in the U.S.:
email – usually answered within one business day
phone – available for users with a software-assurance agreement, professional contract, TechNet/MSDN subscription, or who are under the Microsoft Partner Program.
online chat – waiting time is around an hour or less
Clearly Vista still has a few hills to climb before consumer criticism starts to wane, at least until a large amount of consumers start to use new PCs with Vista on it and running smoothly. I can see a much larger problem looming for businesses with hundreds to thousands of existing PCs that still need to be upgraded. According to an article written by Larry Hooper of crn.com, there will not be any recommendations from solution providers to their customers. The other option would be to hold out for XP SP3, but that's a whole 'nuther article.
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