Today, earlier than expected, Windows Vista SP 1, the most
important update for Microsoft’s latest operating system, was released for download.
Windows Vista product manager Nick White made the official
announcement on the Windows Vista's blog. Earlier today Amazon.com has announced
that is ready to take pre-orders for boxed copies of Windows Vista Service Pack
1 and according to its website it would start shipping tomorrow.
“We released SP1 in these 5 languages: English, French,
Spanish, German, and Japanese. If you have any other language installed, SP1
will not yet be offered to you,” Nick White wrote.
Also, White acknowledged that there were problems with a
previous release candidate of Windows Vista SP1, but Microsoft has worked
around the clock to solve them.
“We've completed our analysis and are happy to report that
many of these issues were fixed between the release candidate (RC) and the
final version. We identified a small number of device drivers that may be
problematic after an update from Windows Vista to Windows Vista SP1.
Check out the list here;
we'll keep it updated with any additional drivers that we identify”, White
wrote.
Microsoft hopes that the release of Windows Vista Service
Pack 1 will boost the adoption of its latest OS in the enterprise environment.
According to Microsoft, Windows Vista SP1 will not add new
features, but instead it will address key feedback received from its customers.
Also the company insisted that the SP1 will not affect any applications that
are currently running on Windows Vista.
As Microsoft explained, the updates packed in Windows Vista
SP 1 fall into three categories: Quality improvements, improvements to the
administration experience and support for emerging hardware and standards.
Amongst other things Vista SP1 will enhance BitLocker Drive Encryption (BDE) by
offering an additional multifactor authentication method that combines a key
protected by the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) with a Startup key stored on a
USB storage device and a user-generated personal identification number (PIN).
In addition, the update will add support for upcoming
standards and hardware, such as Direct3D 10.1, Secure Sockets Tunneling
Protocol (SSTP), Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI), and the Extended File
Allocation Table (exFAT), a file system for Flash drives.
The service pack will include support for Secure Digital
(SD) Advanced Direct Memory Access (DMA), which will be on compliant SD host
controllers soon, to improve transfer performance and decrease CPU utilization.
Many of the changes in Windows Vista SP1 will address also
the administration Experience. Administratos will surely appreciate the
improvements to Group Policy management.
In the SP1 timeframe, administrators can download an
out-of-band release that will give them the ability to add comments to Group
Policy Objects (GPOs) or individual settings and search for specific settings.
The new update will help the users to install their legal
copy of Windows Vista without having the same problems as before. In case they
have an illegal copy of Windows Vista users will get pop up messages, which
notify them about the status of the software along with information about how
to make the software legal.
As Microsoft announced, Windows Vista SP1 will start
downloading to PCs automatically beginning in mid-April for those customers who
have Windows Update configured to download updates automatically. The update will
not be automatically installed.
Microsoft launched the consumer version of its Windows Vista
operating system on January 30 this year and it’s considered the most expensive
software programme in the world which took five years and 7 billion dollars to
develop.
Earlier this month, Microsoft announced major price cuts for
Windows Vista. The price of its Windows Vista Ultimate, the fully-featured
version of the OS, is now $319 instead of $399.
Also, those who already owns a copy of Windows XP or a
version of Windows Vista will pay to upgrade to Ultimate only $219 and not
$259.
Microsoft also cut the prices for upgrade versions of Vista
Home Premium, its mainstream product, to $129 from $159.
