Windows Archive

"A little over a year after the first appearance of Vista, Service Pack 1 is nearly ready for download. SP1 is a useful but not crucial update to the OS, and one that won't greatly affect your computing day, at least not outwardly. The bulk of the development effort has gone toward upgrading security subsystems - elements that enterprise clients find appealing but consumers and small-business users won't really notice (although they'll feel better knowing about them). The bottom line is that there's absolutely no reason not to download SP1 (which you'll receive automatically if you have AutoUpdate turned on), so it's almost a given that it will become the standard in the very near future."

Despite expectations for a March 18 release, reports all over the Internet have surfaced that Vista SP1 x64 RTM has been released via Windows Update. Not everyone seems to have access to it (yet, keep hitting that 'Check for Updates' button): it has only appeared for certain individuals at the moment. The update is of course optional; users need to manually choose to download it even if they have their Windows Update set to retrieve updates automatically.

eWeek takes a look at Vista's first service pack. "On the whole, Vista Service Pack 1, which becomes generally available in mid-March, is a fairly staid update with very little in the way of new features or cosmetic changes. SP1 consists of a rollup of Vista's first year of security and bug fixes, new support for a handful of emerging hardware and software standards, and an update to Vista's kernel and core systems that brings the operating system in line with Windows Server 2008, which was also recently released to manufacturing. SP1 also features a handful of performance improvements around file copy operations, which I was able to confirm during my tests in our lab." Concerning the file copy operations, Mark Russinovich has a detailed post about that one.

Following the announcement earlier this week that Vista Service Pack 1 had been shipped to manufacturing, Microsoft today confirmed that it seeded another build of Windows XP SP3 to a closed set of testers. "Yesterday, we released Windows XP SP3 RC 2 to private beta testers," a Microsoft spokeswoman said in an e-mail. "This release catches the build up on previously released hot fixes and responds to critical feedback from previous betas."

Microsoft is conducting field trials to ensure that a modified version of Windows XP SP2 will be able to run well on the One Laptop Per Child’s XO machine and that it will be able to support customers with a good experience on that hardware. "We are encouraged by what we have seen of Windows on the XO machine so far, and field trials started at the end of January involving about 200 XO machines running a customized version of Windows XP SP2 with a reduced footprint image," Orlando Ayala, senior vice president of Microsoft's Unlimited Potential Group, told eWEEK.

Computerworld Australia is running a story with a response from Microsoft to Infoworld's 'Save XP' petition web site, which has gathered over 75,000 signatures so far. Apparently Microsoft is aware of the petition, but says it is "listening first and foremost to feedback we hear from partners and customers about what makes sense based on their needs, that's what informed our decision to extend the availability of XP initially, and what will continue to guide us."

The Japanese computer supplier NEC has officially launched a product to let network administrators downgrade machines running Windows Vista to XP. The OEM first made the product, NEC FlexLoad, available to customers on 25 January. However, the product was officially launched on Tuesday. Customers with a Vista licence can purchase the two-DVD pack for GBP 7, according to David Newbould, NEC UK's product marketing manager. The first DVD sets up a partition on the hard drive and installs core XP files and drivers, while the second DVD installs the remaining XP files in the partition, said Newbould. NEC recommends that customers burn a Vista recovery CD before installing the XP partition.

"One of the 'big' features discussed in early speculation of Windows Vista SP1 was the kernel upgrade, which was supposed to bring the operating system into line with the Longhorn kernel used in Windows Server 2008. And yet with Vista SP1 going RTM, there hasn't been so much as a peep from Microsoft about the mooted kernel update. Has it happened? Well the answer is yes it has, and presumably the main reason for Microsoft's silence on the subject is that as they're keen to promote the improvements and enhancements to Vista, rather than placing emphasis on a kernel upgrade, which some people might see as a risk of newly-introduced instability."

"Windows Vista from Microsoft takes a lot of resources, we all know that. vLite provides you with an easy removal of the unwanted components in order to make Vista run faster and to your liking. This tool doesn't use any kind of hacking, all files and registry entries are protected as they would be if you install the unedited version only with the changes you select. It configures the installation directly before the installation, meaning you'll have to remake the ISO and reinstall it. This method is much cleaner, not to mention easier and more logical than doing it after installation on every reinstall."

"Looks like Microsoft is not planning to release Windows 7 in 2009. Microsoft's official response, by an email dated 26th January, 2008, to WinVistaClub states that Windows 7 is still in the planning stage and will take approximately 3 years to develop." So there.

Supposedly, we are looking at screenshots of Windows 7 here. Anyone who has ever looked at Vista will realise these are exactly the same - and that actually makes a lot of sense, so early in a development cycle. In any case, the version number in the winver screenshot actually corresponds to the version number supposedly assigned to the supposedly released M1 build of Windows 7 - but hey, that's just a Photoshop away. Do with this as you please.

Rumour has it that Microsoft is pushing forward Windows 7 for a 2009 release. The first milestone build has supposedly already been shipped to select partners, according to APCMag. They claim to have access to a roadmap for Windows 7, but whether that claim holds any water remains to be seen. The Inq seems to believe APCMag, but that means about as much as a politician's word, so whether this is anything more than a rumour is difficult to say. CNet has more.

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 15000 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.

Gizmodo has been running an interesting series of videos (part I | part II | part III) where they interview Bill Gates. They chopped the interview up into smaller pieces (as in, 2 minutes a pop), but the fourth installment only lasts 16 seconds. Bill Gates does say something very honest and open, though. After Gizmodo asked him what product of the last five years he would've wanted polished a little more, Gates answers: "Ask me after we ship the next version of Windows. Then I'll be more open to give you a blunt answer."