Microsoft changes mind, goes public with Vista SP1 refresh
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Reversing course, Microsoft on Friday decided to make the latest tweak to Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) available publicly.
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Microsoft rolled out the latest version of its all-conquering Windows operating system for business customers, hoping corporate users will blaze a trail for the new Vista platform.
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Microsoft confirmed Thursday that its invite-only group of about 15,000 testers has had the final version of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) for the past two weeks.Other Vista users, however, will have to wait until March to obtain a legal copy of the release-to-manufacturing (RTM) version of Vista SP1, the company reiterated.According to a Microsoft spokeswoman, the build designated Vista SP1 RC Refresh 2, which was seeded to testers on Jan. 24, is identical to&#160;the code that company developers shipped&#160;out the door on Monday as RTM.&quot;In final stages of a product, Microsoft likes to get as much validation as possible before releasing,&quot; the spokeswoman said in an e-mail. &quot;The release candidate ended up being a high enough quality to be approved to release to manufacturing.&quot;The shift in nomenclature, but not bits, is common. Eventually, a vendor must approve a build as &quot;gold code,&quot; at which point that edition becomes the shipping version. Last November, for example, Apple Inc. issued a test build of Mac OS X 10.5.1 to developers one day, then called it good to go and posted it for download the next.However, users who weren&#39;t part of the SP1 testing group must wait until March to get their hands on the update, the spokeswoman repeated today. In five to six weeks -- mid-March according to Microsoft -- the service pack will be offered via Windows Update as a 65MB optional update and posted to Download Center as a 450MB stand-alone installer that supports five languages. A month later, in mid-April, Windows Update will automatically download and install SP1 on Vista-equipped PCs whose users have set Automatic Updates to do hands-off updating.Subscribers to the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) and TechNet will get a slight jump on the general public. &quot;In early March, MSDN and TechNet subscribers will be able to get the &#39;Windows Vista with SP1&#39; full DVD,&quot; the same spokeswoman said in another e-mail. The updated operating system will be offered to MSDN and TechNet subscribers through their respective download centers.Microsoft is holding SP1 so that it can identify device drivers that won&#39;t reinstall -- as they must -- during the service pack update process. On Monday morning, Mike Nash, vice president of Windows product management, said that while SP1 had met the RTM criteria, it would not be available for several weeks because of the&#160;driver problems.That generated a firestorm of criticism from users, who vented by posting over 200 comments to Nash&#39;s announcement, calling the decision &quot;stupid&quot; and &quot;one of the all-time worst moves&quot; by Microsoft.Judging by the tone of nearly 120 comments left on Microsoft&#39;s official TechNet blog, IT professionals and developers are even angrier. The subscribers called the withholding of SP1 &quot;boneheaded&quot; and a &quot;slap in the face,&quot; or dubbed it &quot;the Vista SP1 RTM Debacle.&quot; Others questioned the value of their TechNet subscriptions, admitted that they had had to download a pirated copy using BitTorrent so that they could start testing, and said they would postpone Vista deployments for months because of the delay.Several wondered why reviewers in the press had the finished bits before they did.But a commenter identified only as Joe put it most succinctly: &quot;This is the lamest decision since Microsoft Bob. I get this the same time as my mom?&quot;The backlash may have gotten through to Microsoft. On Monday night, Kathy Dixon, the TechNet Plus team member who normally writes the blog, said that she was looking into the possibility of moving up the availability date of SP1. But as of Thursday night, she had no solution for users. &quot;I have escalated this and am continuing to push internally for a solution ASAP,&quot; Dixon wrote around 8 p.m. EST. &quot;Please hang in there, I should have something more specific soon.&quot;Computerworld is an InfoWorld affiliate.
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Now you see it, now you don't Microsoft has suspended one of the pre-requisite updates for Vista service pack one (SP1), after customers complained that their PCs wouldnât boot up properly once KB937287 had been applied.â¦
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The first Vista service pack will address performance and reliability while adding support for new types of hardware and some emerging standards. Also on tap: a beta of the third and final service pack for Windows XP.
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft distributed a new build of Windows Vista's first service pack last week to its invite-only list of testers, according to bloggers armed with copies. But as is the norm, the version also leaked to BitTorrent networks. The 6.0.6001.16633 (longhorn.070803-1655) build weighs in at a relatively svelte 684MB, bloggers and message forum users claimed. The first Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) beta, which leaked earlier this month to BitTorrent peer-to-peer file-sharing networks, was significantly larger -- more than 3GB -- and came as an .iso file that was, in effect, Vista with SP1 already added. Last week's build, an .exe file, updates existing Vista installations. Vista updates -- such as security patches and other hotfixes -- are normally packaged as .msu files, however, perhaps indicating that 6.0.6001.16633 is not a direct step toward a public release of SP1. "Surprisingly, the update file is in the .exe format," said WinBeta last Thursday. "Many (including myself) were expecting Microsoft to deliver the update for Vista SP1 in the new Vista/Server 2008-only .msu format used for current Hotfixes." Odd-Magne Kristoffersen, a Norwegian blogger who specializes in Microsoft's software, posted a series of screenshots Tuesday that he claimed show the newest build being installed. "The installation process involves no less than 3 restarts," said Kristoffersen. Like the earlier SP1 beta, it appears Microsoft has been unsuccessful in keeping build 6.0.6001.16633 testers in line; Computerworld easily found it on P2P networks. Microsoft has been mostly mum about Vista SP1; as recently as a month ago, the company quashed rumors that that the beta was just around the corner. Its official line has been that it will issue SP1 beta "sometime this year." Many corporations, on the other hand, have taken the advice handed out by analysts, who recommended that companies delay deployment until SP1 is available.
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A small group of testers is now putting Windows Vista Service Pack 1 through its paces.
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(InfoWorld) - Although Microsoft may not have the first service pack for Windows Vista ready at the end of this year as some expected, financial analysts say that a delay should not have a negative effect on enterprise adoption of the OS. Many large enterprise customers have said they will wait for the first service pack for Vista to deploy the software across their companies. Some were expecting SP1 before the end of the year after Microsoft Senior Vice President Bob Muglia said in a published report last November it would be released with Windows Server, code-named Longhorn, due by the end of 2007. However, rumors swirled last week that the release of the pack would be pushed into 2008 after Microsoft said in a court filing dated June 19 it would have only a test version of Vista SP1 out before the end of the year. According to the document, filed as part of the ongoing antitrust case with the U.S. Department of Justice, the software is to be released by then to answerÂ a complaint by GoogleÂ thatÂ the OS's built-in desktop search capability interferes with the use of Google's competing search technology. The rumors caused investors to worry about enterprise adoption of Vista being pushed further out, and company stock declined 2.4 percent Friday, opening at $30.03 and closing at $29.54. UBS Investment Research analyst Heather Bellini tried to allay investor fears in a research note published Monday, saying that the end-of-the-year release of a beta listed in the document "probably represents a 'drop-dead' date." "The company most likely has accounted for the possibility of unforeseen delays in this timing," according to Bellini's note. "As such, we believe Vista SP1 could be available sometime before the end of the year barring any material delays." Andrew Brust, chief, new technology, for consulting firm and Microsoft partner Twentysix New York, who is familiar with the company's plans, said he also believes Microsoft will have SP1 out the door before the end of 2007. He would not disclose specifics, but Brust said that what he's heard "contradicts the chatter." "Microsoft is quite aware of the need to get an SP out there; I promise you that," he saidÂ Monday. Through its public relations team, Microsoft said Monday that it has never committed to a release date for SP1 and confirmed the company will be releasing test builds of the software from now throughout the end of the year. Despite Muglia's comments last year, even a 2008 release for Vista SP1 should not be considered a delay because the company never announced a firm date for release, Microsoft said. Enterprises are most likely waiting for the release of Windows Server Longhorn -- now known by its official name, Windows Server 2008 -- before deploying Vista, making SP1 less relevant to enterprise deployment than some think, according to a research note from Citigroup Global Markets.
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Microsoft is polishing Vista with a long-awaited service pack in hopes of greater adoption among businesses.
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Microsoft on Friday made available to the public a pre-release version of Windows Vista SP1. We want to know what you think.
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Microsoft moved up the availability of Windows Vista SP1  for TechNet and Microsoft Developer Network subscribers to tomorrow at the latest.
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Some systems are thrust into endless reboots after receiving Vista SP1 updates, according to messages posted to the company's support site.
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InfoWorld - Although Microsoft may not have the first service pack for Windows Vista ready at the end of this year as some expected, financial analysts say that a delay should not have a negative effect on enterprise adoption of the OS.
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Within its recent response to the U.S. Department of Justice that stated it would modify Windows Vista to enable end users and OEMs to change the default desktop search it uses, Microsoft for the first time discussed Service Pack 1 for the OS, saying a beta will come this year.
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A number of changes and updates are coming to Vista by way of the upcoming Service Pack 1. We took a look through Microsoft's change log to see just what's new.
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Get a closer look at some of the new features in Vista Service Pack 1.
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A glitch that causes endless rebooting prompts Microsoft to pull the software update that prepares Vista for SP1.