Microsoft will release the first service pack for Windows Vista in Q1 2008 and the company has revealed that test versions of the update are currently 1GB; Redmond also admitted it is working on Windows XP SP3.
Microsoft will soon start testing a beta of Service Pack 1 for Vista as well as a third service pack for Windows XP. The company plans initially to release the Vista beta to 10,000 pre-selected testers, though it may expand that release later. A small group of testers are already working with a "beta preview" version.
As for what's in the Vista update, it's mostly a collection of existing fixes and tweaks aimed at improving stability and reliability of the operating system, which went on sale to consumers this January.
There are a few minor enhancements, most notably the ability to encrypt multiple hard drive partitions using Vista's BitLocker feature.
"Lots of folks gave feedback that 'We have an OS partition and a data partition and we'd like to encrypt both,'" Boettcher said.
Also being added are support for an emerging removable storage file format known as exFAT as well as for EFI (extensible firmware interface), an alternative to the BIOS (basic input output system) that handles the initial start-up of a system.
Vista SP1 will be a large download: Roughly 1GB, based on current test versions. By way of comparison, Windows XP -- the whole thing -- shipped on a CD, which only holds about three quarters of a gigabyte. Installing the OS upgrade will require 7GB of free hard drive space, though much of that will be returned to the user once the megapatch is applied, Microsoft said.
The key question is what, if any, impact the contents of the update or its timing will have on the plans of large businesses to move to Vista. IDC analyst Al Gillen predicted that it won't have that big of an effect.
"It doesn't fundamentally change the landscape for Windows Vista adoption," Gillen said.
Microsoft has set out ambitious goals for business adoption of Vista, saying it expected businesses to move to Vista in the first year at twice the rate they did with Windows XP.
Gillen said that businesses seem to be moving at generally the same pace as with previous releases.
As for the coming Windows XP update, Microsoft didn't give many details, but did say that it is planned to be the last significant update for the operating system, which debuted in October 2001.
"There's not a lot we have to say there," Boettcher said. "It's really an end-of-life (patch) roll-up for Windows XP."
Microsoft's largest prior discussion of the Vista service pack came in a June court filing, in which the company agreed to make changes to Vista's desktop search feature in response to complaints from Google. In the filing, Microsoft said the changes would come in SP1 and that a beta of the service pack would come this year.
On Tuesday, Mike Burk, a senior product manager at Microsoft, said that the desktop search changes would not be part of the beta, but rather would be added at a later date. On Wednesday, the company said the search changes will indeed come with SP1 beta when it enters testing in the next few weeks.
Aside from that, Microsoft steadfastly refused to comment on the service pack, except to say that there would be one. The company also maintained that service packs are not as important these days given all the updating of the operating system that Microsoft does online.
However, despite pleas from Microsoft that businesses need not wait for a service pack to adopt new releases, Boettcher acknowledged that the first service pack of major software releases remains a psychological milestone for some customers.
"It's not a perception that is going to change overnight," Boettcher said.
Microsoft has been increasingly delivering patches one at a time, via various online updating services, but not all customers want things a patch at a time. "Some folks like to see it all rolled up," Boettcher said. "You are going to see us continue to do that over time."
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Kev
30/08/2007 11:59 AM
Is it just me, or does it seem impossible for anyone to ship a complete thing these days? Be it a complete operating system, software, or even hardware. More time in development, less time in the patching process.... Seriously... A patch being bigger than the game <rolls eyes> come on...
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tmuchall
31/08/2007 10:26 AM
The backward compability for software is very bad. Stick with Windows XP while you can.
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llaith
01/09/2007 04:23 PM
I've uninstalled my Vista ultiimate for a while and gone back to XP Pro. It really is a shocking disappointment. I use a n OSX laptop for work so I really feel the sting of disappointment with Vista. There is not one feature that is better then the OSX equivalent. Recently I downloaded v7 of Ubuntu for a media box. I discovered that it has a 'Beryl' package which adds 10x as much screen pretties as OSX or Vista. And the installation process is much less trouble then any version of windows (from Live CD click install). I'll give the SP1 a try because I hate to think I wasted a large chunk of money - but the massive size of it and the dissapointment in vista makes me wonder if Microsoft has ANY idea what it is doing these days and whether it can still make software at all. I'd be selling Microsoft stock if I had any.
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Himeno
01/09/2007 08:50 PM
There is still no way I will ever use Win Vista (unless it is Vista "Ultimate" and MS pays me a few billion $)
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Rhyu
03/09/2007 04:01 PM
I am happy with my Vista (Ultimate) though I question all of the hype on its introduction. Vista is basically a large update to Win 98SE as far as I can see... Let us hope that Vista is as stable as 98se was... As far as the SP goes, there will always be slight tweaks to the system to make it better...
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Rhyu
03/09/2007 05:55 PM
I am happy with my Vista (Ultimate) though I question all of the hype on its introduction. Vista is basically a large update to Win 98SE as far as I can see... Let us hope that Vista is as stable as 98se was... As far as the SP goes, there will always be slight tweaks to the system to make it better...
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juzz86
07/09/2007 07:50 PM
Well I've gotta say I'm disappointed in Vista too. I use Ultimate, and have to say that while Aero is nice, it's nowhere near where it should be. And over 1GB of patches in the first SP? Kidding right? Lol by SP3 they'll be shipping Vista on double DVDs. You gotta wonder why it'd be released if there's enough flaws to warrant 1GB of patches. I agree with Kev. Prevention is better than cure.
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Dataland
11/12/2007 07:43 AM
As I've already blogged, I think Vista is more than a little slow and bloated. I know other people who are concerned with Vista's reliability, but unfortunately I have not yet gotten there (I find Vista’s performance too lacking to have used it enough to run into reliability issues). Here are Vista SP1 improvements I find interesting ... Pingback: http://dataland.wordpress.com/2007/12/10/vista-sp1-improvements/
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manish20089
21/01/2008 09:29 PM
windows vista is very best in my computer.
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