Vista SP1, A Review - Hardware and Software
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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:
...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:
...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.
Next: The Experience >>
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