Windows Vista comes with new diagnostic tools—together, they’re called the Windows Diagnostic Infrastructure (WDI)—that not only do a better job of finding the source of many common disk, memory, and network problems, but can detect impending failures and alert you to take corrective or mitigating action (such as backing up your files). The next few sections describe these new tools.
With little fanfare, Microsoft Corp. has moved up the availability of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) for TechNet and Microsoft Developer Network subscribers, saying they will be able to download the update by Friday at the latest. It was the second time in three days that Microsoft changed the release of the release-to-manufacturing (RTM) version of Vista SP1 for the IT professionals and developers who pay hundreds of dollars annually for the right to download and test software before it’s offered to the general public.
Microsoft has released 11 security patches, six of which are “critical” and five of which are “important”, according to the software giant. This month’s “Patch Tuesday” did not include a patch that had been promised in Microsoft’s advance notification for February 2008. Microsoft could not be reached for comment at the time of writing to say why the patch had not been included.
A little more than one year after its release, Windows Vista will receive its first service pack update in March. Microsoft says the pack will offer better compatibility with third-party hardware, increased reliability, tighter security and better performance. But unlike the last Windows Service Pack release, Windows XP SP2 — which offered users a new Windows Firewall, an improved Automatic Updates feature and a pop-up ad blocker for Internet Explorer — Windows Vista SP1 is largely a code update, devoid of new eye candy and very light on ‘must-have’ features, at least for home users. Most of the features touted by Microsoft are for the Business, Enterprise or Ultimate editions of the operating system. Our advice: wait until Windows Vista SP1 is offered to your PC via Microsoft’s Automatic Updates service.
Often, when Microsoft finishes the code for a new product, it is available almost immediately. That’s why it was a bit of a surprise when Microsoft said last week that it had finished Windows Vista Service Pack 1, but that customers would have to wait until March to get it.
With the launch of SP1 Microsoft promised to put an end to two popular hacks used by pirates to allow a non-genuine install of Windows Vista to function in the same way as a genuine install. Testing that I’ve carried out in the lab today suggests that Microsoft has been true to its word.
Microsoft says the reason it’s ending the “Anytime Upgrade” digital key downloads for Windows Vista upgrades based on feedback from customers. I can believe customers were confused, but I can’t believe that’s the real reason for the change. I think it’s a step Microsoft had to take to clear the decks for reducing the number of versions of Vista.
Microsoft confirmed Thursday that its invite-only group of about 15,000 testers has had the final version of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) for the past two weeks. Other Vista users, however, will have to wait until March to obtain a legal copy of the release-to-manufacturing (RTM) version of Vista SP1, the company reiterated.
French tech website PC INpact is reporting that it got its grubby little hands on the exact release dates of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 as well as Windows XP Service Pack 3. According to a source, Vista SP1 is to be released on the night of February 18 while XP SP3 will be released on the night of March 23.
“The ‘Wow’ Starts Now,” Microsoft proclaimed when it officially launched Windows Vista a year ago. But looking back from Vista’s first birthday, while Microsoft claims Vista is a major reason for its best revenues ever, it’s been a year when Vista, far from scoring a quick knock-out, seemed to take more punches than it landed in the early rounds. If there is any good news for Microsoft it is that with experience — and adjustments — Vista has finally begun to accumulate points on the cards of both enterprise and consumer judges.Vista’s first year was not an entirely smooth one, to say the least. Early on, even while it was winning the respect of the security community for at least improving on previous versions of Windows, it met with some very public rejections from large organizations like the Department of Transportation, where CIO Daniel Mintz placed “an indefinite moratorium” on upgrades to Vista, citing “no compelling technical or business case for upgrading.” Similar pronouncements came from enterprises that were worried about Vista’s incompatibility with their existing applications, or the high hardware costs imposed by the new operating system.
So, yesterday Microsoft announced that SP1 for Vista had gone RTM. This means that the first service pack for Windows Vista has been finalized and this is what we’ll have to live with until we see SP2. I’ve been plowing through the masses of SP1 related documentation to come out of Redmond and come up with a shortlist of reasons why I’ll be applying SP1 as soon as I get my hands on the code.
Microsoft has wrapped up development of two major products, Windows Server 2008 and the Service Pack 1 update to Windows Vista, CEO Steve Ballmer told financial analysts Monday.”Both products have released to manufacturing today, which is good news,” Ballmer said.
After months of speculation, Microsoft on Monday will release Windows Vista service pack 1 to manufacturing, according to a Friday report in the Malaysian hardware enthusiast blog Tech ARP. OEMs will also receive Windows Vista Service Pack 1 next week, according to the report.
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Federal agencies required to ensure security of their Windows XP and Vista PCs by the end of February are about to get a much anticipated list of validated assessment tools.The National Institute of Standards and Technology ’s (NIST) first list of tools based on the Security Content Automated Protocol (SCAP) will enable federal agencies to configure, assess, monitor and report that their Microsoft XP and Vista desktop systems adhere to the “Federal Desktop Core Configuration” standard .
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