Gary Chan 2.0

Today, you can now download Windows Vista SP1 via Windows Update. For those of you eager to receive the benefits of Windows Vista SP1 - you can now do so! We’ve seen quite a bit of questions in our comments so we want to communicate as much as possible surrounding Windows Vista SP1 and today’s release to Windows Update as we can.

For those of you happy to wait - sit tight because SP1 will start downloading to PCs automatically beginning in mid-April (Remember, this happens only if you have your Windows Update configured to automatically download updates and SP1 will automatically download but not automatically install). But if you want to get the benefit of a year’s worth of improvements right now, go check Windows Update today…(Hit the Start Menu, All Programs, and select Windows Update).

windowsvistablog.com

Speaking of Windows Vista SP1, the final two of three prerequisite updates needed to install Windows Vista SP1 will also be hitting Windows Update. KB937287 which is the servicing stack update and KB938371 which is a multi-component update are both required before installing Windows Vista SP1. KB938371 will not be offered to Windows Vista Enterprise and Windows Vista Ultimate systems until KB935509, the first prerequisite in the series of three, has been installed. Both of the Windows Vista SP1 prerequisites are marked “Important” and will install automatically if you have Window Updates set to the recommended configuration.

windowsvistablog.com

Windows Vista SP1 availability for technical customers

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Hi, Mike Nash here from the Windows Product Management group at Microsoft. Today we are excited to announce that we have released Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista to manufacturing (RTM) for our first set of languages (English, French, Spanish, German and Japanese).

Service Pack 1 is a very important milestone because it addresses many of the key issues that our customers have identified with Windows Vista over the last year both, directly and through programs like the Customer Experience Improvement Program. With Service Pack 1, we have made great progress in performance, reliability and compatibility. One of the great things about my job is that I get to play with the latest builds of our products — I’ve personally been running Windows Vista SP1 pretty exclusively for a few months and I’ve noticed that my systems run faster and more reliably than they did with the “Gold” release of Windows Vista.

windowsvistablog.com

After both public and private betas galore, Microsoft is set to make the final, gold Windows Vista Service Pack (SP) 1 bits available, most likely next week.

This week, I’ve been getting reports of SP1 bits being available on torrents. I asked Microsoft earlier this week if these builds were, as some were saying, the final Vista SP1 bits. And, as usual, the Windows client team wasn’t saying a whole lot.

blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft

UPDATE: I just installed the latest version of Vista SP1 and now ntoskrnl.exe is either corrupt or missing. Discussion here.

Microsoft may not have released any more information regarding the actual changes in the latest version of Windows Vista SP1, but the company has widened the release pool to… everybody. When Microsoft first made the update available earlier this week only about 15,000 beta testers were given official download links. Now you can grab the update as a direct download. You can also download the service pack through Windows Update if you jump through a few hoops.

downloadsquad.com

We’re making available today the RC release of Windows Vista SP1, found here on MSDN and here on TechNet, with an FAQ here. I invite you to download, install and use the SP1 RC and let us know about your experience by providing your feedback here.

windowsvistablog.com

Leading up to next week’s public beta-test release of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Release Candidate, Microsoft today has published a 17-page document outlining in fine detail exactly what difference SP1 makes to Vista.

istartedsomething.com

Today we’re making available the release candidate (RC) of Windows Vista SP1 via Microsoft Connect, and tomorrow subscribers to TechNet and MDSN will have access to those RC bits too. In addition, the RC will be available to the public next week via Microsoft’s Download Center.

windowsvistablog.com