Vista SP1, A Review - The Experience
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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.
Next: Things Looking Up? >>
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