Vista SP1 Released to Manufacturing

Reverend Ninja writes "According to the Windows Vista team blog, Windows Vista SP1 has been released to manufacturing. It appears we'll have to wait until mid-March to play with it though, as the team cites that they want everyone to have a 'great install experience'. 'Service Pack 1 brings new improvements that are based on feedback we heard from our customers. It further improves the reliability and performance of Windows Vista. The information we collect thanks to tools like the Customer Experience Improvement Program, Online Crash Analysis, and Windows Error Reporting help us learn about where and when customers are having issues with Windows Vista and the applications that run on it. Since these issues have a direct impact on our customers' experiences, we've invested time and energy to make this better. While Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is an important milestone, we will continue to invest in the continuous improvement process.'"

Real info instead of speculation

[dfn_deux (535506)]

Notable changes in SP1 [microsoft.com] Hot fixes and patches rolled up in SP1 [microsoft.com] Release Notes document [microsoft.com]
Unlike most of the chatter I've read on /. I've been mostly satisifed with my Vista install so far. The only real problems I've experienced is the repackaging of some of the SDK tools such as graphedit which used to be available as standalone, but the 64 bit vista specific version is only available as part of a multi-gig sdk download... Also some vendors have been slow to ship good drivers although I suspect that MS requiring a 64 bit for the "vista compatible" label and not requiring a 32 bit version will in time result in a better driver base.

50% Faster?

[by Anonymous Coward]

Ars Technica [arstechnica.com] claims that file copies are now 50% faster in SP1.

It should only take 65 and a half years, instead of 131 [theregister.co.uk], to copy 168 Mb of pictures now. What a great feature! :-)

Re:50% Faster?

[SilentOneNCW (943611)]

Actually, that would be if it's 100% faster. 50% faster means it'll only take 98.25 years.

Question for dev team

[Enlarged to Show Tex (911413)]

Why do you need a 'great install experience' when you can just force the update on your userbase?

Re:Question for dev team

[blind biker (1066130)]

Excellent question. And the answer is: because otherwise your users won't know what a great thing they got - they wouldn't notice a damn thing at all. But if it's all nicely wrapped in bells, whistles and shiny ribbons with bright letters reading "Vista SP1", then they will have that warm and fuzzy feeling of having something new, valuable, BETTER.

We use SP1RC1 in a lab of Vista machines

[fishthegeek (943099)]

and it doesn't appear to have helped reliability or performance as far as we can see. We still have TrendNet wireless nics that will not work using Vista drivers on a factory install of the OS. We still have file copy operations that should be timed with a calendar. We have Vistafied versions of applications that generate interestingly cryptic "unable to assign resource" errors.

I hope that any changes between RC1 and RTM are actually going to deliver on those promises they keep making.

Now can we all please just shut up about it?

[fahrvergnugen (228539)]

I'm no Microsoft apologist, but I do think the unbridled hate that pervades /.'s reaction to every single Vista article is a bit out of hand. Maybe this will help stem the tide of Vista-bashing. Sure, Vista kinda sucks, but all Windows versions kinda suck. I think most people who are ripping on Vista for being the operating system anti-christ are forgetting how badly XP sucked pre-SP1, and even pre-SP2. 7 years ago, the chorus of "OH MY GOD XP IS SO MUCH WORSE THAN 2000! THERE'S NO NEED TO UPGRADE!" in every XP article's comments were eerily similar to the ones you hear now every time Vista gets a mention.

Vista's maturing, and as it does it'll become a better operating system, and everyone will benefit, even if they don't use Vista. Microsoft still competes largely on the basis of being a de facto standard. Vista's release has caused them to lose this edge somewhat, and the window has opened for their competition, who compete mostly on features, to get a little lazy (Leopard, anyone?). Microsoft competing more vigorously on their stale plank, assuming they don't magically find traction they've been unable to find for years, can't do anything but help the products on the market.

Okay, now it's time to cue the million responses calling me a Microsoft shill. Suggested topics: "There really was no reason to upgrade from 2k to XP, I still use 2k just fine," "Vista is beyond repair because of DRM," and "Vista is way more broken than Leopard, how dare you rip on OS X."

Re:Now can we all please just shut up about it?

[dreamchaser (49529)]

As I've stated many times in many places, I'm largely OS agnostic. I have Solaris, Linux, Mac OSX, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Vista at my disposal. I'm fairly happy with Vista so far. Despite the hate and FUD you see here it works fairly well, and the initial problems with drivers have been largely sorted out. It really is in many ways a replay of when XP shipped. The difference is that now there are real alternatives and the competition is a bit more.

Re:Now can we all please just shut up about it?

[jcnnghm (538570)]

The reason vista gets harped on so much is because it's a dog. I reinstalled XP a couple of days ago, because I had finally had enough of Vista after almost three months of usage. Before I reinstalled, I had disabled UAC and Aero to increase the responsiveness. The only feature I really liked was the searchable start menu, so I installed Launchy on XP and I couldn't be happier. When I type a command in launchy, the results are instantaneous, no Vista lag. Running XP with the same applications, at idle I am using under 2% CPU and about 700MB of memory. With Vista, my CPU usage was pretty steady at 20-30% with memory usage of about 1.4GB for the same load and software.

Before I reinstalled XP, I installed Ubuntu to try to run Linux on the desktop again. After I got my video cards and monitors working, and finally got Compiz to function properly, I was quite impressed by the performance. Even with the effects enabled, the system was functional and responsive under load. I suspect this can be attributed to a properly designed kernel. Additionally, the Ubuntu people get a lot right, like the installation procedure (done from the Live CD, I browsed the internet while it installed), non-free driver installation and package management. Multiple monitor support was a total PITA to set up, but worked as I would have expected once configured. Unfortunately, Compiz doesn't work properly with xinerama so I reluctantly switched back to XP.

Vista isn't like the early days of XP at all. I switched to XP before SP1 from 2k, and while the performance was slightly lower, I thought that the additional application compatibility was worth it. In other words, where XP ran the software I was used to using on 95 and 98 better than 2k, Vista doesn't seem to run anything better than XP. Indeed, at this point I think it would be considerably easier to transition to Ubuntu than to Vista, so long as the majority of the desktop applications you use regularly are free software, and you don't have a nonstandard (more than 1 graphics card) monitor configuration.

Re:Now can we all please just shut up about it?

[oogoliegoogolie (635356)]

Did you ever consider the reason so many people have such negative opinions about Vista is because they have a valid reason? These "Vista sucks" statements are hardly unique to the Slashdot crowd, and websites and publications from all areas of technology have told users to stay away from Vista-that didn't happen to XP. It's not so much that Vista sucks, but rather people don't like vista because it is difficult to find something of value in Vista that you don't already find in XP. Vista adds little, but takes a lot away.

XP was originally bashed for it's horrible color schemes. Vista is bashed because it has across the board decrease in performance. Game framerates are ~10-20% slower, file operations can be ridiculously slower, the system takes longer to boot compared to XP, vista can take as long to come out of sleep as it takes to boot up, and the worthless and annoying UAC, which is a poor copy of what is done so much better and with more logic on Kubuntu or OSX.

I tried Vista for 6 weeks, found that it didn't offer anything much better than what was in XP, was frustrated with it's performance hit, so I got rid of it. I don't think it is terribly horrible OS, but really, what does it offer?

Ok, so here is a question for Vista fans: What do you find good in Vista, and what do you like about Vista? I'm not trolling, but I never found anything of value in it, so I am just curious what is in Vista that you like better than in XP?

3 different programs for analyzing crashes?

[InadequateCamel (515839)]

"The information we collect thanks to tools like the Customer Experience Improvement Program, Online Crash Analysis, and Windows Error Reporting..."

For a company so adept at spinning information into pro-MS propaganda (much like any big company, mind you), you would think that they would do a better job of obfuscating the fact that they have at least 3 different channels for collecting program crash information!

Reading the infospeak

[SlowMovingTarget (550823)]

OK, so I'm trying to read the press announcement and my eyes keep glazing over. What I get is this:

Service Pack 1 wank wank wank wank, wank-wank, wank-wank-wank. Wank wank new OnLine Blame Casting System wank wank, synergy wank-wank going forward.

I really just want to know if they include the flying chairs screen saver. Although granted, Vista's DRM will kick in and turn the screen blank...

Re:I'm tired of the euphemisms

[Viol8 (599362)]

This sort of crap has been going on a while now with every company trying to talk up the most trivial action into sounding something earth shattering or life changing. HOw many companies now just have a product? Not many , most have a "mission" or a "vision" in the hope that this juvenile over emphasis of everything will somehow fool people into thinking they're really some sort of spin off of the SAS or some high brow philosphical deep thinkers , rather than some shitty little cleaning services company or whatever. Everyone apart from marketing morons and some middle management still stuck in the early 90s is sick of it.

Re:I'm tired of the euphemisms

[kilgortrout (674919)]

Excuse me, we have neither a "mission" of a "vision"; we at Dumass Corporation have a "Passion".

Re:I'm tired of the euphemisms

[by Anonymous Coward]

I always smear Crisco on my lover's asshole, because I want him to have a 'great install experience'.

Re:I'm tired of the euphemisms

[by Anonymous Coward]

I always smear Crisco on my lover's asshole, because I want him to have a 'great install experience'.

Have you had any major issues with Leopard? How's the iPhone working out?

Re:I'm tired of the euphemisms

[jo42 (227475)]

I have come to the conclusion that language such as this, that of advertising, marketing, that of middle- and upper-management and politics is simply the language of the uber incompetent. In other words - make it sound important and significant to make it look like they know what they are talking about even when they don't have a frickin clue.

Bwahaha.

[crovira (10242)]

"Not that it'll be bug free... I'm sure it will be ridden with mistakes and problems, accidental and deliberate. But it won't be because of lack of effort. I'm sure some Microsoft employees have poured their heart into this thing."

Just because you use a gold plated wide-mouth container for carting "night soil" doesn't mean you not hauling a bucket full 'o stinking shit.

Keerist. I've been hearing about Vista for YEARS, how it was going to be the 'be all and end all' and now they have to TWEAK it?

Linux has episodic incremental releases.

OS X has episodic incremental releases.

Windows has "events".

What unmitigated bullshit.

Re:I'm tired of the euphemisms

[NormalVisual (565491)]

If Joe Customer buys a Hi-Def movie and windows can't play it, he's going to point straight at Microsoft with the finger of blame - even though the fault lies with the manufacturer of the disc.

Simple fix - MS puts up a dialog box that says, "The manufacturer of this disk has denied permission for this disk to be played on your system. Please contact the disk's manufacturer for more information." and points the finger of responsibility for this crap right back at the studios. MS is already taking heat for the new DRM as it is - I for one won't be running Vista as long as it has that infernal DRM functionality on it, and I certainly am not the only one. It's the operating system's job to manage and abstract the hardware for use by the programs the user chooses to run on the system, not pass moral judgement on said user or his system on behalf of some other business entity. I refuse to accommodate one that does. Besides, upgrading from XP to Vista would require me to shell out several hundred dollars in unnecessary hardware just to be able watch HD content in its native resolution on my current system, on top of the purchase price of the OS itself. No thanks.

Re:Removed the DRM?

[siyavash (677724)]

Windows Vista has "Support" for DRM, which means content creators such as music and movie makers can CHOOSE to use DRM... IF they want to. HOWEVER, there is no "DRM FORCE" on the user. Which means you CAN STILL use your downloaded mp3s and other files ( porn ) perfectly OK with Windows Vista.

If you dislike DRM, don't buy from the content creators which put DRM in their content. That has nothing to do with an Operating System.

Educate yourself.

Re:Removed the DRM?

[dhavleak (912889)]

Didn't bother to read the links before posting a rebuttal right? :)

Your media tank does indeed provide an HDCP path. Either that, or when the ICT bit is set on media shipped in 2010 onwards, your playback will degrade to roughly 950x550.

Re:Removed the DRM?

[KillerBob (217953)]

x264 720p/1080p HD-DVD & BluRay rips

So does Vista. Even Vista Media Center plays them. Assuming you've been smart and, you know, installed the codecs. Just need one, actually: ffdshow. If you want to go for broke, you can also install the Combined Community Codec Pack (CCCP). Throw those at it, and Vista will play every file I have, including the MKVs and the OGG/Vorbis files.

And unlike your box, my Vista-based media center will actually play BluRay discs, as well as rips. And it'll play them at full 1080p through the HDMI or, if I prefer, the DVI output on my computer. Both of which support full HDCP. (I'm using the DVI, with the coaxial Dolby Digital output going directly to my decoder at the moment. I'll go HDMI when I replace my 24" WUXGA+ LCD display with a 46" HDTV in the near future)

The FUD about the DRM in Vista is completely overblown. It's in there, but it's not going to prevent you from viewing pirated content if that's your thing. Vista doesn't complain at all about playing videos or songs in my collection. The DRM is in there so that I can play my legitimately purchased content at full resolution, which is something you can't do with your box.

Re:Removed the DRM?

[ozphx (1061292)]

And how do you know that the Reduced functionality mode is actually gone?

I'll check back with my mate Chris. :)

Chris: Fucking Vista! Its gone into reduced functionality mode and says I have a pirated version!
Me: Chris, you do have a pirated version.
Chris: Well..... fuck.

Re:Removed the DRM?

[dhavleak (912889)]

Apple has already implemented HDCP in Leopard: http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/aluminum-and-glass-a-review-of-the-new-imac.ars [arstechnica.com]
From the link: "There's also HDCP support built in, so future support for Blu-ray and HD DVD is not out of the question." I had read a more direct reference on Apple's site but I couldn't find that link right now.

Please don't interpret this as an anti-Apple rant though. Rather, as I said in my original post, get pissed at the entire industry, or nobody at all.

Apple never had a choice in the matter, and neither did MS. If you want your system to play HD-DVD or BluRay media once the ICT bit is set, you have to have HDCP support otherwise the playback resolution has to be degraded.

Whether you implement this in software or hardware (firmware) of course, is entirely up to you.

Re:Server2008 vs. XP and Vista

[(H)elix1 (231155)]

You might be pleasantly shocked by XP-64. I've got an MSDN subscription, so have pick of the litter when it comes to operating systems for kicking around. When I tried XP-64 June of 2005, it was a bit rough. I had 4G of RAM in my work / gaming box and figured it was worth just running the 32-bit version of XP and letting the OS round down to 3.5G.

Parts for my new box showed up this week. This time, 8G of RAM, a dual core (E8400) CPU, nVidia 780i SLI mainboard, and nVidia 8800gts (512M). Since I went nVidia for chipset and video card, all of the 'box' hardware had drivers for 32-bit and 64-bit versions of XP, Vista, and Server 2003.

Gave Vista64 (ultimate) a try. Gah...

First, while I'm sure SP1 will probably fix this, the installer failed with 8G of RAM. Pulled out three 2G modules and all extra HDD's, and was able to continue on. OS installed, drivers picked up all of the mainboard/graphics hardware in a reasonable default mode. Had wired network access at that point, so downloaded the current drivers, which picked up all of the 'core' hardware. Plugged in the other HDD's and changed the SATA cabling. Blue screens again. Pull out the drives, put the SATA cables back in for the main drive, blue screen again. Took several reboots before I realized the Plextor DVDR (PX-712A) would cause a blue screen when the tray closed with a disk. Popped in a standard IDE DVDR, and got the rest of the system up and running.

All the development tools and apps worked. Games (CS:Source, Supreme Commander, BFME2) worked OK. A few glitches in BFME on a long game.

The final nail was USB devices. Figured I would blog about he new kit, so I plugged in my USB cord into my camera. Vista recognized it was a camera, but failed to do anything else. No drivers. Same went for *every* USB thumbdrive I owned. (Pics here [multiply.com])

Gave up, after much messing about.

XP-64 installed with 8G of RAM installed. Did not get the Ethernet running, but did mount a thumbdrive without issues. Installed the core set of mainboard/graphics drivers, did a windows update, and everything just worked. Not a single blue screen or crash under XP-64 so far.

Server 2003-64 is also running rock solid. Just work stuff on that drive, however....