back to article Vista SP1 on track for mid-March release?

Microsoft is running out of time to make its mid-March deadline for pumping out Vista service pack one (SP1) for general release as a manual download. Meanwhile, it looks like the software giant has failed to fix a key pre-requisite update in time, meaning that if SP1 does indeed arrive this week, an unspecified number of …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Gates Horns

    SP1 installing?

    I have reports of a 193MB update available as manual update only today!

    SP1 maybe?

  2. dervheid

    Out Already?

    I was in a branch of a well known high-street retailer @ the weekend and I'm sure I saw a "computer mag" (can't remember which one) with a "Vista SP1" CD as part of its packaging.

  3. Christopher Reeve's Horse
    Go

    Already available

    Apparently Scan have been selling SP1 DVD's at 59p a pop for quite a while now....

    http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=783503

    Why has no-one (least of all MS) got a clue to what's going on?

  4. Charles Fuller

    Re: Out Already?

    Yes, I have the magazine. There's a voucher which you can fill in and post to an address in Kent. they will then send the Service Pack to you on a DVD.

    I'll refrain from commenting about the need to put a service pack on a DVD ....

  5. James Townsend
    Happy

    @ dervheid

    The "Vista SP1" CD you saw in the mag is actually PC Pro magazine - when you look closely at it you dont actually get the CD/DVD - what you get is a postcard that you fill in your details and mail to MS - when SP1 is released publicly to all, within a few weeks you should then recieve it on disk - no charge for any of it :)

  6. Dana W
    Flame

    Soon, soon.

    These are the people who take a year and a half for a service pack, and I'm being told they are going to get Vista's replacement out in two years? RIGHT........

    Of course they will they.......................

  7. James
    Pirate

    Turd polishing

    No matter how much M$ try and put a shine on Vista, it is still a piece of DRM-infected shit.

  8. Neil
    Dead Vulture

    Vista SP1

    The PC Pro review of SP1 is quite interesting. A file takes something like 11 seconds to copy from a usb key on XP, and 45 seconds on Vista with SP1.

    File copying....the fundamentals of an OS and it's screwed.

    In my opinion Vista is nothing more than XP with a few applications bolted on. Defender, UAC and desktop seach.

    The most depressing thing of it all though is that I don't think Linux will step in and steal Windows thunder and OSX doesn't have the enterprise features required for the business market.

    Time to hit Ebay and find me an Amstrad PCW I think.

  9. Brian Whittle

    available on dvd

    I got an vista sp1 update dvd from scan for 59p so it must me due

    not my pc actually deletes files without thinking about it for half an hour, great

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Linux

    @townsend Why so large, accourding to Microsoft

    The reason it is so large on disk (according to Microsoft sources) is that they decided to roll up all the different language versions and other variations into a single image, instead of making different images for different systems. If downloading the updates required for a single system, no system requires more than 100MB to be updated (according to Microsoft sources).

    I say good idea to stop having a myriad of different version to confuse, but I would hate to be someone who has to download that giant stand-alone installation image.

  11. Old Painless
    Pirate

    The end is nigh...

    Does anyone REALLY care anymore? I've already decided XP is the last Muppetsoft OS I'm ever going to us without a gun to my head, and I've officially lost interest in Vista, the desperate follow up to Vista, and the undoubted last gasp that will follow it a year later. Does anyone here intend to be PAYING for an OS that doesn't work 5 years from now? Thought not...

  12. Graham Lockley

    Fools rush in

    Bitter experience of MS's previous Service Packs means I will be quietly sitting back and watching the forums etc. for news of which apps/drivers/hardware get broken by this pack. In about 6 months I will start to consider the option but not before and I will still continue to dual boot with XP. Take your time MS.

  13. storng.bare.durid
    Stop

    Don't.

    Just doing my bit for humanity.

    Don't buy vista.

    Boycott the beast. Use XP, switch platforms, whatever. Let's just make this another ME or something. It's such a piece of crap.

  14. Wade Burchette

    I've got Vista SP1 right now

    Of course, I'm a TechNet member, so that is why I have it. My version has both the 64-bit and 32-bit program and needs a DVD because it is about 1.8 GB. I believe the main problem with Vista SP1 is the update needed to get it doesn't work on some computers.

  15. Michael Greenhill

    SP1 = goooooood

    Working for a volume customer does have its perks - I've had SP1 at home for a month and a bit now. It fixes a LOT of bugs with Vista, including the long, drawnout file copying issue.

  16. DAN*tastik
    Coat

    No idea what's happening mid March

    Maybe they have Vista on all their computers and there's a bug in the calendar thingie of the clock?

    Mine's the late December red one

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Gates Horns

    INARTNT is BORKEN

    > Bitter experience of MS's previous Service Packs means I will be quietly sitting back and watching the forums etc. for news of which apps/drivers/hardware get broken by this pack.

    I wish I had that luxury. The drivers in my OEM-provided Vista install are already broken.

  18. Adam Buckland
    Alert

    Mid march...

    Has actually come and gone. It's the 18th today so how on earth can they make a mid March shipping if it's not available yet....

  19. Oisin McGuigan
    Gates Horns

    That wonderful V word

    Vista doesn't need a blood transfusion! It needs Euthanasia!!!!! Bury Bills Legacy.....

  20. Robert Harrison

    Worrying

    It's all very worrying isn't it when a project starts/continues to miss its deadlines and milestones slip by with nothing to show. When that happens it punches holes in your confidence that the people running the project know what they're doing and how they're going to do it. In fact, it suggests to me that the developers on this project have little confidence in the product themselves and are now likely to rush things in order to achieve delivery.

    In a way this is a good thing from a consumer perspective because if you see problems at this stage then it saves you the effort of making the purchase and going through the stresses and strains afterwards. Kind of like going to an electrical store and looking at a rather shonky toaster, you can immediately see that there were problems designing and manufacturing the thing and steer well clear.

    Note specifically that I wanted to keep away from bashing Microsoft, the above comment should apply to most projects where you as the consumer have the choice not to buy the end result.

  21. amanfromMars Silver badge
    Alien

    AIMicrosoft ...... Future Derivatives Division/FabFadLabs ... Seventh Heaven?

    "Does anyone here intend to be PAYING for an OS that doesn't work 5 years from now? Thought not..." ..... By Old Painless Posted Monday 17th March 2008 20:44 GMT

    Which would make XXXXPertEase ITs Current Driver Dealing Potential, Old Painless. That makes XXXXProSP2 ....... QuITe Priceless.

  22. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    Advice for people buying laptops

    If you don't want vista avoid most HP Laptops, I bought one with the intention of removing Vista and installing Ubuntu or XP. That was 6 months ago and I still haven’t managed it. Neither XP or Linux can detect the HDD and it seems the option I need to change in the bios has been disabled.

    HP don't support their hardware, instead they support Vista if its running on a HP machine.

    Fingers crossed for the service pack in my opinion. Lets hope after upgrading to SP1 we are all greeted with the XP logo.

    P.Hilton

  23. michael

    @ ac buying laptops

    I had a simler problem with a computer not seeing a vista laptops hdd on a dell I had to do a bios factory restor to get it to work but you probley have tryed this

  24. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It's a dog!

    SP1 made no noticable difference in the performance of my Vista Business laptop. File copying speed across a network was not improved at all in my case, and I still had the same issues as before SP1 with my DVD drive disappearing after Vista woke up from sleep.

    So I reformatted the machine and installed XP, and wow what a breath of fresh air! Everything is quicker, and more responsive, and everything just works.

    Vista is a complete dog, and always will be no matter how many service packs they throw at it.

  25. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Amazon...

    Yesterday Amazon reported the 18th. Today it says "This item will be released on March 19, 2008" - and counting?

    Maybe this is just the new answer to when is it ready. id software use "when its finished/ready" and MS/Amazon are using "tomorrow". Think id's is the smarter move as you're never late! But with MS, I suppose there is always a tomorrow.

  26. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    Stonehenge

    I agree with the sentiments expressed above. Had to copy and burn some photos from a DVD for my girlfriend for her work – on her Acer Aspire 4920 Vista laptop it took, well… Let's just say the Druids probably had more luck with their henge-based computing solution.

    I managed to boot my 4 year old supermarket-bought POS running XP (no battery, 128MB RAM, 1GHZ VIA CPU, crashes quite often due to age and abuse), copy it all over, plug in my external DVD writer, wait an age for Nero to load, burn the disc and scrawl the contents on the label, and the Vista machine was still only about 20% through the burn.

    Something somewhere is seriously wrong when that’s the situation…

  27. Anonymous Coward
    Gates Horns

    ah, perls of wisdom...

    you cannot make a silk purse from a sows ear...

    time for M$ to wake up and smell the Linux coffee....

  28. Andrew Carpenter
    Joke

    Mid-March

    Microsoft can still release SP1 in mid-March.. they just need to redefine the length of the month to be at least 36 days. A patch for Outlook will be released to reflect this change.

  29. Anonymous Coward
    Unhappy

    @Graham Lockley

    Keep dual booting mate.

    I installed SP1 in the hope that it would fix a number of problems with Vista. It didn't.

    All that happened is I can't print to my networked HP Office Jet Pro, the HP service crashes every few seconds until you uninstall it (though I blame HP for that - they must have had SP1 for a while now).

  30. michael

    sp3 for xp

    any news?

  31. Joe Stalin
    Gates Horns

    Beware the ides of March

    Says it all really

  32. Anonymous Coward
    Boffin

    File copy in SP1 info

    There's a good blog post about the changes made in SP1 for the file copy problem. Far more complex than most people would assume.

    http://blogs.technet.com/markrussinovich/archive/2008/02/04/2826167.aspx

  33. Eddie Johnson
    Dead Vulture

    @AC@GL

    You are quite right to blame HP, a printer driver should not require a service, as many have said before if the printer driver can't fit on a floppy or 2 the printer is shit. Let me guess you have a bunch of z*.dll's, 7 different tray icons, and little yellow balloons popping up all over the place asking if you'd like to contact HP's web site to order supplies or download the latest bloatware?

    Dead vulture 'cuz HP is dead to me as a manufacturer of quality printers.

  34. Bruno Girin
    Dead Vulture

    @Eddie Johnson

    Same here: HP is no longer a supplier of quality printers as far as I'm concerned. Last time I bought one, the first one had to be sent back because it was dead on arrival. Then its replacement died a few months later for no reason. Not to mention that the drivers are a complete pain in the neck and constantly want to connect to the HP website for no good reason, both on Windows and Mac. And don't get me started on their customer support!

  35. Anonymous Coward
    Dead Vulture

    31 Language Packs..

    ...and not one of them English

  36. Andrew Davenport
    Dead Vulture

    @ AC Buying HP Laptops

    You need to go in the bios and switch the SATA mode from native to something else, then XP can see the hard drive.

    Dont understand why this would make a difference and i note HP dont supply the SATA drivers for XP for the F6 function.

    HP Printers are getting worse, the amount of time i have to go through a server registry switching the print monitor back to the default to stop the spooler crashing and get the things printing is beyond me!

    As for Vista SP1, i consider going from Vista to XP an upgrade, instant performance, responsive interface and intuitive layout (no where did that control panel applet go?? NO I DONT WANT YOU ASKING IF I AM SURE, NO I DONT WANT YOU ASKING IF I AM SURE I AM SURE EITHER - damn UAC)

  37. Andy
    Gates Halo

    Roll up, roll up,

    SP1 is available from the Microsoft Download centre:

    32 bit version here:

    http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b0c7136d-5ebb-413b-89c9-cb3d06d12674&DisplayLang=en

    64 bit verison here:

    http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=874a414b-32b2-41cc-bd8b-d71eda5ec07c&DisplayLang=en

  38. Anonymous Coward
    Linux

    Taking bets now.....

    ... more fixes than non-fixes/new bugs introduced. What are the odds?

  39. fon

    COMET are doing it!

    They are already selling PCs with ' VISTA SP1' ... good CS too!

    Or just go to one of the many online places and get an OEM XP +SP2 for £60 + the price of a HDD/MB/CPU to please the OEM terms... :):)

  40. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    Not all bad

    Just installed SP1 through Windows update tonight and it's works a treat. I think M$ have taken too much stick for Vista. Sure it's not perfect but no o/s is and that's what keeps us all in jobs! For a home PC I think Vista premium is great and a vast improvement over xp (even with it's initial bugs). I must be one of the very few who has found my system **more** stable with Vista over xp pro?? Just my two cents.....

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