http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsvista/bb738089.aspxWindows Vista Service Pack 1 is an update to Windows Vista that addresses feedback from our customers. In addition to previously released updates, SP1 contains changes focused on addressing specific reliability and performance issues, supporting new types of hardware, and adding support for several emerging standards. Windows Vista SP1 also addresses some management, deployment, and support challenges.
Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) was released on February 4, 2008 alongside Windows Server 2008 to OEM partners after a five-month beta test period. The synchronized release date of the two operating systems reflects the merging of the workstation and server kernels back into a single code base for the first time since Windows 2000. MSDN subscribers were able to download SP1 on February 15, 2008. SP1 became available to current Windows Vista users on Windows Update and the Download Center on March 18, 2008. Initially, the service pack only supported 5 languages, English, French, Spanish, German and Japanese. Support for the remaining 31 languages was released in 14 April 2008.
A whitepaper published by Microsoft near the end of August 2007 outlined the scope and intent of the service pack, identifying three major areas of improvement: reliability and performance, administration experience, and support for newer hardware and standards.
One area of particular note is performance. Areas of improvement include file copy operations, hibernation, logging off on domain-joined machines, JavaScript parsing in Internet Explorer, network file share browsing, Windows Explorer ZIP file handling, and Windows Disk Defragmenter. The ability to choose individual drives to defragment is being reintroduced as well.
Service Pack 1 introduces support for some new hardware and software standards, notably the exFAT file system, 802.11n wireless networking, IPv6 over VPN connections, and the Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol. Booting a system using Extensible Firmware Interface on x64 systems is also being introduced; this feature had originally been slated for the initial release of Vista but was delayed due to a lack of compatible hardware at the time.
Two areas have seen changes in SP1 that have come as the result of concerns from software vendors. One of these is desktop search; users will be able to change the default desktop search program to one provided by a third party instead of the Microsoft desktop search program that comes with Windows Vista, and desktop search programs will be able to seamlessly tie in their services into the operating system. These changes come in part due to complaints from Google, whose Google Desktop Search application was hindered by the presence of Vista's built-in desktop search. In June 2007, Google claimed that the changes being introduced for SP1 "are a step in the right direction, but they should be improved further to give consumers greater access to alternate desktop search providers." The other area of note is a set of new security APIs being introduced for the benefit of antivirus software that currently relies on the unsupported practice of patching the kernel (see Kernel Patch Protection).
An update to DirectX 10, named DirectX 10.1, makes mandatory several features which were previously optional in Direct3D 10 hardware. Graphics cards will be required to support DirectX 10.1. SP1 includes a kernel (6001) that matches the version shipped with Windows Server 2008.
The Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) is being replaced by the Group Policy Object Editor. An updated downloadable version of the Group Policy Management Console was released soon after the service pack.
SP1 enables support for hotpatching, a reboot-reduction servicing technology designed to maximize uptime. It works by allowing Windows components to be updated (or "patched") while they are still in use by a running process. Hotpatch-enabled update packages are installed via the same methods as traditional update packages, and will not trigger a system reboot.
In late April 2008, a compatibility issue was discovered between SP1 and Microsoft Dynamics' Retail Management System. SP1 downloads from Windows Update are now temporarily halted until a fix can be applied. No estimate was given for the fix. Users of RMS were advised not to install the service pack if they haven't already.
Apparently this Service Pack has addressed most of the problems that made Vista "unusable". I have downloaded and installed this, and I can say that it has fixed some major problems, but not all/most of them.
Changes I have noticed:
- Copying files on a LAN is much quicker than before (It used to take 7-8 hours to copy 3GB)
- Windows Processing faults have been addressed (programs don't randomly freeze for 15 seconds at a time)
I have only just installed this, so I will likely find other things that this Service Pack has "fixed".
Also, a lot of people have been saying that it does not show in Windows Update, Microsoft has said that this is due to a program built into Windows which blocks Windows Update exploits (lol), so there is also a standalone download which is initially for non-internet users.
If you have Windows Vista, it is worth downloading as it fixes some problems (if you don't mind not having any Windows Updates for a while).
Better some than none.
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