Near-final Vista SP1 goes public

Microsoft has made Vista's Service Pack 1 near-final "release candidate" available for download to the general public, after initially choosing to restrict it to 15,000 beta testers when it debuted last week.

According to a blog by ZDNet.com's Mary Jo Foley, a Microsoft representative said the build contained a "number of bugs that testers encountered in previous prerelease versions of SP1."

The update is largely a collection of bug fixes and performance and compatibility improvements, but includes some minor new features.

SP1 RC Refresh, as the update is known, requires previous versions of SP1 to be uninstalled before it can be replaced with Refresh, which may entail waiting for the computer to "reboot multiple times," according to Microsoft.

After multiple rebooting, a period of an hour is required to allow the installer service to "clean up and complete the uninstall" to prevent possible installation errors.

Those with Vista RTM need to install two to three updates, depending on their version of Vista, before they can welcome SP1 onto their computer.

Refresh is time-limited, with the deadline for uninstall being June 30, 2008. According to Foley, Microsoft still aims to have the official version of SP1 available within the first quarter of 2008.

On its Web site, Microsoft warned that it "does not recommend installing this software on primary or mission-critical systems."

Suzanne Tindal of ZDNet Australia reported from Sydney.

[p.shearer]

Windows 2008 is built on the Vista SP1

Windows 2008 Server is built on the Vista SP1 codebase. My out-of-the-box impression is that is seem much cleaner and smoother than Vista.<br /><br />Paul Shearer<br /><a class="jive-link-external" href="http://windows2008.informedcio.com" target="_newWindow">http://windows2008.informedcio.com</a>

[MadLyb]

This is nuts!

"After multiple rebooting, a period of an hour is required to allow the installer service to "clean up and complete the uninstall" to prevent possible installation errors."<br /><br />I know it's mainly automated, but I cannot believe it takes an hour to complete.

[Lumbergeek]

Re: Nuts

So don't install it. This is BETA stuff. Beta requirements are stringent sometimes.

[Vegaman_Dan]

It doesn't.

It doesn't take an hour to do all that. If it requires an hour to do all the cleanup claimed, then that indicates the system was in very poor condition before the SP1 upgrade was applied.<br /><br />It doesn't matter what OS you choose- if you don't maintain your system, then you have nobody to blame but yourself.

[krosavcheg]

Nuts???

Nuts??? You think this is NUTS???<br /><br />THIS IS WINDOWS VISSTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[rapier1]

Just to clarify

This is if you are UNINSTALLING a previous beta installation of SP1. <br />Since this doesn't apply to anyone here this isn't something to get <br />too worked up over. It will, at most, affect the 15,000 people who <br />agreed to take part in the *private* beta. <br /><br />The article was somewhat opaque on this matter.

[terminalblue]

mission-critical systems?

who on Earth would run Vista on a 'mission-critical system"?

[jelloburn]

lol

best comment yet...

[tbsteph]

Never Miss an Opportunity

Um, over 100,000,000 installs of Vista - I'd say there are more than <br />a "few" mission critical systems running the OS.

[aemarques]

I'm confused

... I'm running Vista SP1 RC since December. I got it from Microsoft through Windows Update (and I'm not a registered beta tester or anything).<br />This is available for EVERYONE since 14th December 2007!<br />See <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=BE34577A-E925-48FB-9D6D-50FE9461F808&#38;displaylang=en" target="_newWindow">http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=BE34577A-E925-48FB-9D6D-50FE9461F808&#38;displaylang=en</a>

[inachu]

Hmmm... Didn't I hear the following?

Back when it was still called LONGHORN<br />I read news reports that Ms was saying this was the last version of windows and now I am hearing of Windows 2008?<br /><br /><br />Weird

[mbenedict]

Nope, you didn't hear that....

Windows 2008 is simply Vista SP1 for the server environment. It adds server-centric features like enhanced terminal services, high-availability clustering, etc.<br /><br />What you might have heard is that Vista / Longhorn will be the last "big-bang" Windows release. Future versions might be released more incrementally, at a quicker pace.<br /><br />But there is always the expectation of future versions of Windows. In fact Microsoft is already building the successor to Vista, code named Vienna.

[William West]

Near-final-Vista-SP1-goes-public

I suppose that I'll be waiting for the "Automatic Update version". This "Near Final Vista SP1 goes public" seems too complicated and dramatic.

[hmj_2003]

It's not really that bad

Just download the installer from technet and go to the place you extracted it after download and extraction. Then run the script as "Administrator" and reboot. Go out with your girl or with your friend for about 1-4 hours and it "should" be done :)

[xxczxd]

About the security of Vista

In fact, the security of Vista is pretty good.

[AJ Pants]

Several reboots, over an hour to install

Some things never change

[Ted Miller]

Yup!

This is truly my favorite comment. It is just so true.

[rapier1]

Please *read* the article

Especially this part<br /><br />"SP1 RC Refresh, as the update is known, requires previous <br />versions of SP1 to be uninstalled before it can be replaced with <br />Refresh, which may entail waiting for the computer to "reboot <br />multiple times," according to Microsoft.<br /><br />After multiple rebooting, a period of an hour is required to allow <br />the installer service to "clean up and complete the uninstall" to <br />prevent possible installation errors."<br /><br />In other words, you'll need several reboots and an hour or so to <br />install *IF* you have the SP 1 RC Refresh already installed. Since <br />you *don't* have the SP 1 RC Refresh installed this doesn't apply. <br />What it does mean is that if you do install this pre-release <br />version of SP 1 *it* may be necessary to go through this <br />uninstallation process when the final version comes out. Which <br />is pretty much just how things go when you beta test things.

[developIT]

Over an hour

ABM troll alert!

[Ted Miller]

Oh give me a break will ya?

This is absolutly INSANE! I can really see everythig going wrong here. Microsoft... just WHAT kind of company are you really to give out some piece of crap as this??? You are really upsetting me to no end, and I am curious as to how many others out there feel as I do. You reall need to do better then this. Your track record has been going from "bad to worse" GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER OR YOU ARE FIRED!<br /><br />A real irked Microsoft User!!!<br /><br />PS: Your XP SP3 crashed my other system also. It was good that I was still able to do an uninstall!

[jcpaylor]

My 2 Cents

I am honestly, an avid Microsoft supporter (In fact, it is my dream to work for Microsoft one day). Initially, I ALWAYS preferred Microsoft products; however Vista is just unacceptable. It is utterly embarrassing. I purchased a brand new Acer laptop that came pre-installed with Windows Vista. Luckily, I only paid $600 ($200 discount). I immediately purchased a separate retail version of Windows XP Pro. I agree with most critics. Vista terribly drains hardware resources. It's amazing how smoothly XP runs on my new Acer laptop. I wish Microsoft would abandon Vista and put a better effort into the next big release of Windows. I currently have the XP SP3 Beta installed on my Acer laptop and I have not experienced any problems what so ever.<br /><br />I also stopped using Internet Explorer 7 in favor of the Mozilla Firefox 3 Beta (Very fast and reliable with few kinks). Hopefully the merits of Internet Explorer 8 improvements will be convincing for me to return the popular browser (most pages are coded for Internet Explorer).<br /><br />Just the 2 cents of an objective Microsoft fanboy.

[mbenedict]

MacinTrash Troll

Lemmings.

[Penguinisto]

Well, to be fair...

...this is still just a beta. <br /><br />I left the masochistic route a long time ago and replaced Windows entirely @ home with Linux and OSX. <br /><br />A large number of people did the same thing last year. This year, even more will do the same. <br /><br />Microsoft is faced with having to convince folks that Vista is actually worth it, but there are no real features that justify the price. Sure, they did a few things under the hood, but functionally? Vista is no different than XP if you removed the eye candy.<br /><br />Either way, MSFT has a hard road to travel over the next few years. <br /><br />/P

[krushyou]

You are a moron

You do realize its a beta right which means results are unpredictable and should not be installed on your main machine and so was xp3, if you are having problems let MS know, thats the point of TESTING a beta.

[developIT]

Microsoft user

ABM troll alert!

[hounddoglgs]

Typical M$ (Lack of) Standards

I'm sick to death of listening to all the M$ fanboys using the "it's just a beta" excuse for yet another crappy, buggy piece of software. <br />News flash- It's A PUBLIC BETA. It's a RELEASE CANDIDATE. M$ should have the major bugs addressed before it gets this far. With as much money and manpower as M$ has, there is no excuse for this well established pattern of poor quality assurance. M$ doesn't take quality seriously, because they still have the arrogant belief that there are no real competitors and the consumer has no alternative to their products.<br />Make all the excuses you want- more and more people are switching to Mac and Linux every day.

[michaelo1966]

MS: Please fix this

I'm not a MS hater, but Vista really really stinks. <br /><br />It crashes, it's slow, the updates take forever to install and after installing it takes forever when rebooting the system. This isn't a SP: it's regular Vista Ultimate. I also don't know what the Ultimate is for: I don't seem to have anything that friends and colleagues who purchased the cheaper versions don't have.<br /><br />Microsoft -- you've let us down. All kidding aside, I don't want to roll back to XP and reinstall everything. If you're reading this, please fix this operating system.

[hmj_2003]

try this

It worked for me but I'm on Home Basic, I don't know if it'll work for you...<br /><br />Defrag the computer over night (ALL DRIVES)!!!!<br /><br />In the morning, restart the computer. You'll notice a noticeable difference. If you've already tried that, check to see if you have the "Required" amount of hardware to run it. You need at least the "Recommended" amount. What's the difference? Required is the minimum. Recommended is what MS recommends to run Vista fully without it crashing and taking forever. :-) Hope that defrag works.

[hmj_2003]

SP1 is better than just Vusta

But.... I still have a "Not Responding" background that stays on my desktop after Windows Live Messenger and Weather Bug freeze up for a few seconds after reboot. I contacted MS about it but nothing...<br /><br />Other than that, I love the better performance. I'm only on 1GB RAM, 2GHz AMD Athlon Processor, with a 128 MB Video Card. No problems. Just my mic doesn't work :(<br /><br />If anyone knows about how to fix it, I did a full install with Windows Home Basic and I have a built-in Realtek AC'97 sound card. Front and back mic connections don't work :(