Testers: Vista RC1 Appears Stable
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Microsoft seems to be on track to release the next version of Windows on schedule.
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Compatibility issues A delayed update to Microsoft's application development suite looks unlikely to fully work with Windows Vista.â¦
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'But you should upgrade now' A less-annoying version of Windows Vista is still several months away.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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When Steve Sinchak's new Intel network card became "really slow" after upgrading his Windows Vista PC with a pre-release version of Service Pack 1, he tried uninstalling its software driver and replacing it with a new one.But to his dismay, the Chicago-area technology author and blogger found himself "stuck in a loop" during the InstallShield-managed process -- unable to replace his sluggish older driver with a new, peppier one."It's messed up to the point where I may have to use brute force to uninstall the driver, or wipe my hard drive and reinstall Windows Vista completely," he said.Sinchak's is an example, admittedly an extreme one, of the driver problems that forced Microsoft to take the unusual step of holding SP1's availability to users until March even while announcing its release to manufacturing (RTM) on Monday.Not even the hundreds of thousands of people who have already been testing Vista SP1, nor the many Windows developers accustomed to being able to download software on Microsoft's MSDN or TechNet Web sites immediately after RTM, will be able to get SP1 for another 6-8 weeks.And if you are one of the unlucky Vista users using a driver known to break and need reinstallation after the upgrade to SP1, Windows Update will quarantine you from getting SP1 until the driver is fixed."We want all of our customers to have the same good experience," said Microsoft senior product manager, David Zipkin, in an interview Monday. "That's why we're erring on the side of caution."Cancel or allow or shut up already?Service Pack 1 remains the milestone by which many companies and consumers judge when a Microsoft product is truly bug-free and mature enough to deploy. Any delay in SP1 could have an adverse effect on Vista uptake, which has been generally strong -- more than 100 million copies shipped -- despite a lukewarm market response.Zipkin points out that most drivers, once re-installed after the SP1 upgrade, should work properly.That was the experience of several Computerworld readers.Zipkin blames hardware vendors for failing to strictly follow Redmond's instructions on how drivers should be installed."The issue is that the drivers were not written per the spec we have on MSDN to ensure successful updates," he said, a spec that "has been around since the XP days."Zipkin declined to elaborate or comment on Sinchak's case. And neither Intel nor Macrovision, maker of the InstallShield software, immediately responded to requests for comment.But some experts think that the problem must be related to under-the-hood changes in Vista SP1, especially those concerning security and user privileges, which can directly affect how applications and drivers are installed."Microsoft looks like they are monkeying around with a lot of lower-level stuff," said Paul Morris, a project manager at QualityLogic, a Moorpark, Calif. software and driver testing firm. "In my mind, you've got to treat SP1 as an entirely new OS."Vista's overhauled security model had two major changes. First, local users who were formerly granted administrator access by default are granted standard access in Vista. Second, a new feature called User Account Control, or UAC, prompts users to verify whenever a new application or driver is about to be installed.Both moves help to prevent viruses and malware from taking hold. But UAC has been criticized by some users for its overzealousness, though UAC pop-ups decrease dramatically after the first month, according to Redmond.Moreover, moving users to standard rather than administrator accounts wreaked havoc on many applications and drivers that depended on full administrator access to install or run properly.If SP1 makes even small changes to Vista's security model, that could cause drivers to break again, according to Ian Lao, an analyst at In-Stat. Why? For one, most vendors took the easier, less rigorous option of patching and modifying their drivers to make them Vista compatible, rather than "rewriting them from the ground-up," said Lao. That makes them more fragile.Moreover, many drivers, unlike applications, can't be completely shut down during an installation process. The upgraded software -- in this case Vista -- may not be able to properly update the drivers, he said. Thus, permissions may be lost during the SP1 upgrade, or resources moved to different locations.Of drivers and ass-kickingsDrivers were a major bane to Vista in its early months last year.Despite Microsoft's claim that more than 1.6 million peripherals worked with Vista at its launch, there were numerous complaints from early adopters, gamers and other power users about non-working devices."It definitely wasn't just a vocal minority that had a problem with drivers at Vista's launch," said Robert McLaws, a blogger who also tested SP1 but didn't face any driver issues.Indeed, driver issues had been on the wane. At its Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) conference last May, Microsoft said that 1.9 million devices supported Vista.Microsoft has not updated that number since then. But it says that over 78,000 hardware products are now supported by Windows Update, up from 34,000 at launch.And 17,000 peripherals and devices (see list, IE 6+ required) have passed one of Microsoft's two rigorous certification programs: Certified for Windows Vista, which requires successful testing by a third party such as QualityLogic, and the more self-reported Works with Windows Vista program, which is more reliant on self-reporting."A lot of OEMs did not take the Vista launch seriously," McLaws said. "So Microsoft took their problem reports to vendors and kicked some ass."In a PowerPoint presentation distributed to media last month, Microsoft was confident enough to state "Many device and software problems behind us: Nearly all Windows Vista PCs have drivers for every single device installed, available on WU [Windows Update] or from vendor websites."But Microsoft may have relaxed too soon. Morris says none of vendors that came to QualityLogic for certification of their Vista drivers have returned seeking the same service for SP1."They may be hammering on them tooth and nail internally, but they're not asking us to touch it," he said.The result? Monday's delay.Gregg Keizer contributed to this story.
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Microsoft announced today that it will soon release -- to a limited number of testers -- a beta version of Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista. Here's what we know so far.
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft has blamed an unspecified server problem for a 19-hour stretch during which paying users of Windows XP and Vista were accused by the company's WGA (Windows Genuine Advantage) validation system of running pirated software. Any Vista system fingered during the episode was stripped of some features, including the operating system's Aero graphical interface. As of Saturday at 3 p.m. EDT, Microsoft said the problem had been fixed. "We are aware it is a server-side issue," said Phil Liu, a Microsoft program manager in the WGA group. "[But] the cause is unknown at this current time." "Customers who received an incorrect validation response can fix their system by revalidating on our site," said Alex Kochis, senior product manager of WGA, in a blog posting. The site Kochis referred to is the Genuine Microsoft Software home page, which includes links to validation tests for Windows and Microsoft Office. "After successfully revalidating, any affected system should be rebooted to ensure the genuine-only features are restored," Kochis continued. The validation server snafu began sometime prior to 8 p.m. EDT on Friday, when users started posting messages on Microsoft's support forums, including Vista Validation Issues, saying that their PCs had been tagged as running nongenuine Windows. Overnight, the number of users adding their accounts to the tale spiked significantly, as did the frustration index. "What in hell is going on, Microsoft?" asked a user named Hedgemeister. "SUPPORT? Where are you? Validation issues with Vista. Hello? All of us need help," wrote Gnrlbzik. "This is an absolute disgrace. Treating legitimate customers like criminals is a great way to make people want to buy your software in the future! [I'm] absolutely disgusted," added Costanza. Although copies of both Windows XP and Vista were being tagged as counterfeit during the 19 hours, users of the latter were especially incensed. The WGA antipiracy scheme for that operating system disables several features when it thinks the copy is bogus, among them the Aero graphical user interface and ReadyBoost. Early in the outage, several Microsoft customers posted what they said was the text of e-mail they had received from Microsoft support that suggested users sit tight for several days. "I'm sorry to inform you that the Windows Genuine server might be down for few days," the e-mail, attributed to Microsoft Technical Support, said. "I have escalated the issue to our Genuine team, kindly try to validate again on Tuesday 28 Aug 2007." If the message was intended to mollify users, it didn't work. "TUESDAY!?! Yeah, f that," said Nooaah. It wasn't until Saturday around 1 p.m. EDT that a non-anonymous Microsoft manager offered up information. "I guarantee that we're working on this issue right now," said Liu in a post to the forum. "My goal is to identify a FIX for this issue -- afterwards get you all what you are looking for, an explanation and cause. I promise I will have an explanation and resolution as soon as humanly possible." Users' testy relationship with WGA Although Microsoft did not identify the number of affected systems Saturday, based on the user comments and Liu's promises, it appeared to be systemwide. If so, it would be the biggest problem so far in the developer's contentious WGA program. Designed to spot pirated copies of its Windows and Office software, WGA has been mandatory since mid-2005 before nonsecurity updates or files can be downloaded from Microsoft's site. WGA has faced criticism almost since its inception, but until Friday, the most vocal complaints dated back to June 2006, when users discovered that the Windows XP version of WGA was "phoning home" to Microsoft every time the PC was booted. Those critics returned when Microsoft upped the ante with Vista by replacing the WGA messages that only nagged XP users suspected of running counterfeits with a new policy that used an RFM (reduced functionality mode) to cripple machines. In RFM, only Internet Explorer works, and then for just an hour at a time. Because RFM only allows a grace period of three days to those who previously activated Windows but are subsequently deemed pirates, any problems must be fixed quickly to prevent customers' PCs from going dark. Microsoft managed to beat the deadline. That, however, didn't mean much to some, who said this was it for their relationship with the vendor. One claimed that he was heading out the door to buy a Mac, while others swore they would switch to Linux. Others called on Microsoft to ditch WGA. "Once again the legitimate person gets screwed while the people who pirate software probably aren't even affected," said Mark in the support forum. "This whole validation process should be dropped. This is just another nail in the Microsoft coffin." Saturday's outage was not the first time the validation service has gone dark and then identified all PCs connecting with the servers as running pirated copies. In October 2006, Microsoft's Kochis acknowledged a similar blackout. "Earlier this week, a server on the back end of the WGA service experienced a bug that resulted in a temporary outage. As a result, some systems were incorrectly flagged as being non-genuine, and we want to confirm for those who contacted us about this that it was indeed an error," he wrote.
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Following their public availability on Microsoft's Download Center, two hotfix packs for Windows Vista that improve performance and reliability are now available as optional downloads via Windows Update. They will not, however, be delivered automatically to Vista users.
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Microsoft has released a list of 800 applications it has officially verified as running  bug-free on Windows Vista.
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Although Windows Vista officially launched for businesses back in November, Microsoft waited until today to release the final version of its Application Compatibility Toolkit for the new operating system. The software is designed to diagnose any potential problems that may arise from upgrading.
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By Tamara Chuang, The Orange County Register, Calif.  Jan. 30--The anticipation is over. Windows Vista is finally here.
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Applying the&#160;SP1 update to Vista&#160;does nothing to improve its application compatibility, with almost 20 percent of software still unable to run, a study has found.Recently founded application testing company AppDNA ran a &#39;before&#39; and &#39;after&#39; on Vista using SP1 (service pack 1) using its AppTitude system, finding that it made no difference whatsoever to its ability to run a test suite of corporate 500 applications, 18 percent of which failed to work without help.As bad as this sounds, the company rated this as good news because service packs normally introduce as many problems as they solve. That SP1 left compatibility performance unchanged was in stark contrast to the experience with SP2 for Windows XP, which&#160;unexpectedly broke many applications&#160;that had worked before.&quot;Organizations have been waiting to see SP1. But people have been wary after SP2 [for XP],&quot; said AppDNA&#39;s CTO, Paul Schnell. &quot;The updates have been incremental and had no impact on compatibility.&quot;The AppTitude testing software used an algorithmic technique to look at applications for behavior known to break Vista. The company also ran usability tests by loading software and digging around to see whether there were issues, Schnell said.Customers running the tests on their own applications using AppTitude would receive an indication of the severity of compatibility issues using a red, amber and green light system, giving them the information needed to plan migration. The software also provided a report on possible fixes.According to its official history, AppDNA is in its first month of independent operation, having been spun out of application migration specialist Camwood, which remains a channel partner. The company won&#39;t be keen to annoy Microsoft too much - its early business has it working closely with the latter on migration projects.Equally, Microsoft has long given up worrying about the Vista&#39;s difficult image. The news that it might still have issues with one in five applications won&#39;t come as a surprise.Redmond has announced its own application migration tools for Vista and prepared for the long haul. The company has pursued a policy of open access to the SP1 refresh, making as few claims as possible regarding the specific issue of compatibility.Techworld is an InfoWorld affiliate.
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(InfoWorld) - Thursday was finally windows Vista launch day. But though banners were flying in downtown Manhattan on the big day, celebrating the launch of Vista, Office 2007 and Exchange 2007, CEO Steve Ballmer made it clear that the company is anxious to move on, while business customers pegged for Vista adoption wondered whether there was really much to celebrate. âThereâs a bunch of work we still need to do,â Ballmer said of the next Windows client OS. Supporting the shift from single-core to multicore chips and improvements in network infrastructure are priorities. Microsoft also wants to add more features to meet the needs of IT administrators, software developers and end-users. âHow we do software plus service within Windows is going to continue to be a big theme,â Ballmer said. Enterprise customers were wary. âSure itâs a big day for Microsoft, but what are we really getting?â asks Paul Lindo, an independent New York IT consultant. âWith all the delays and features being dropped, this looks to me like it might just be Windows XP with a prettier face.â Vista suffered several features âadjustmentsâ as well as a lengthier-than-expected road to shrink, including the infamous 2004 dumping of WinFS and a ground-up re-programming effort. But now that the day is finally here, Microsoft is well pleased with its new OS offering. âIt may have been a long road, but watching how our early adopters are responding to the platform, we know weâve got a winner,â said Brad Goldberg, Microsoftâs general manager of client product management. Responding to views such as Lindoâs, Goldberg said he remained assured. âVista was designed specifically to give business users recognizable benefits over the last generation platform,â he said. âThat includes productivity, security, networking and noticeably less reliance on IT.â Those last two items especially represent significant development efforts, covering the new UAC authentication model, updated internal diagnostics (including error messages that actually speak English), a completely revamped networking client and new IT tools such as the Reliability Monitor -- a quick dashboard of system reliability. These features were built specifically so users would spend less time talking to the help desk, thus decreasing overall IT spending. Windows is far better prepared for initial deployment than its predecessors, Goldberg said, citing more than a year of overall QA effort, by far the longest QA period in Microsoftâs history. Despite the enterprise focus of some features, it will still be consumers who lead the charge on Vista adoption. According to a report released by IDC last week, Vista will account for 90 percent of new Windows client deployments in 2007 by home users, compared with just 35 percent of new Windows client deployments by businesses.
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Microsoft releases a refresh of its first service pack for Vista to beta testers, indicating the final release might be near.
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Multiple Microsoft sources have confirmed that the first beta test editions of Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista were distributed to a select group of about 12,000 testers today. BetaNews learned these are indeed exclusive invitees, not merely a subset of the company's MSDN or TechNet subscriber base.
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Now that Microsoft has officially unveiled its new Vista operating system for businesses, it is likely that corporate users will begin testing the OS over the next year to see how it fits into their environments.
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Get a sneak peak at many of the key aspects of Vista, as it looks today. Though not vastly changed, there are several new looks in Release Candidate 1.