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What Vista SP1 Means To You
An anonymous reader writes "Geek.com has an interview with Nick White, Microsoft's Vista Product Manager, covering the upcoming release of Vista SP1. The interview goes over some of the new features, how the change will affect admins, and how Microsoft decides if a change should be rolled out as an update or as part of the service pack. One of the most interesting questions asks whether people should feel that they have to wait until SP1 to upgrade to the operating system, a common practice with Windows users. White writes off this practice as no longer being necessary and notes how Windows Update has lessened the importance of the release of a service pack. Just the same, a News.com article explores the possibility that this update will finally begin driving users to Vista."
From TFA:
"If you're an administrator, then you definitely have a lot more to look forward to when it comes to SP1. One thing that caught my eye was the additional ability in BitLocker to encrypt extra local volumes. Many enterprises still partition their workstations and laptops into a C and D drive. Since users are usually instructed to use the D drive to store their data, this means data was at risk if the enterprise also used BitLocker as a security measure, since D couldn't be previously encrypted."
Wait. Only C: could be locked? Full of fail.
I'll tell you what it means to me - Windows XP 64-bit. I "upgraded" to Vista early in the summer, and I kept telling myself through all the headaches that I'd just wait it out until SP1. Now that that's not until next year, I've decided I'm no longer waiting. Instead, I'm switching to XP 64-bit, which appears to have a lot more driver support than the last time I tried it. There's no way I'm going to wait until Q1 2008 for a service pack that might fix my issues, especially if, according to Microsoft, service packs are less important now that Windows Update is widely used.
"Anyone who [rips a CD] is probably engaging in copyright infringement." - David O. Carson
it means that we will have a flood of articles about Vista SP1, just like the initial flood of Vista articles. Seeing as there's now 2 articles already inside an hour.... I shudder to think how many we will see until March 2008.. or whenever SP1 comes out.
What can someone be xpected to say about a mere Statement of Intent from Microsoft, about a Service Pack.... which right thinking people would expect a big comapny to release RIGJHT NOW and solve teething troubles faced by Vista users daily?
The schedule for SP1 indicates MS is under zero pressure to deliver anything or do anything innovative. No point fantasizing about it.
If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
I think you need to stop looking at things as black and white. Its not "stable vs. unstable." Personally, I've not had a single Vista OS crash since I started using it. So its been very stable for me. I think that covers most Vista users actually.
The presense of bugs or unstability in some computers does not mean its not a value to most; even those affected by the bugs may see value depending on the severity of the bugs. Some may be annoying, but taken as a whole, the product is of value to them.
I'm not sure where you're going with your activation complaint; its seems to me to be the exact same thing that WinXP activation is, and it wasn't any more intrusive than XP.
On the other hand if Apple deploy some patchs later, they are just getting sure that everything is fixed right, and if they deploy them early, then wow! they are just blazing fast to help their users! oh well....
It's time to realise that Abble's products are the biggest abomination these days. Just say NO to the dumb iAbble way!!
The $500 dual core laptop with Vista home pro pre-installed is the most effective way to spread Vista - and that's exactly what's happening.
It has started a huge shift from desktop computers to laptops, just check out your local stores. I picked up a decent HP dual core, 1 GB memory, 80GB HD, DVD-RW, firewire for my daughter to replace her aging desktop.
Since Vista was pre-installed, everything works, of course. I would not want to switch over to Vista, but since it's included in the $500 laptop price, and it would cost me $160 to get an XP OEM plus my time, there is really no incentive to change it. I don't know how much HP paid for Vista, but with the $500 laptop price it felt like Vista was free.
With this price drop I suspect mass migration to laptops - at least for home users and the spread of Vista.
New features, my shiny pink ass. I want an operating system that runs Sonar and Premiere and Eve-Online, and runs them fast and with little hassle. I want an operating system that doesn't snoop on me or limit my ability to manipulate the data on my machine in any way I desire. I want an operating system that doesn't pretend to know what's good for me better than I do myself, and I want an operating system that uses my computing resources efficiently.
In other words, I either want an updated XP Pro or OSX that will run on my own sweet hardware.
In regards to Microsoft's "commitment to Service Pack 3", I've got a sick feeling that XP SP3 is going to try to basically bolt on most of the horrible shit in Vista onto my XP system. Microsoft's clearly pissed that we haven't embraced their wonderful new OS and they're going to try to shove it down our throats.
I think what I really want is a third professional, commercial operating system that will run my software and light a fire under MS and Apple, perhaps convincing them that it's worthwhile to actually consider what their customers want. Their ability to make fat profits while ignoring customer satisfaction is not the way the "free market system" is supposed to work, and it speaks volumes about the disdain corporate America has for the rest of us.
I make a living using software that runs on XP Pro. But I am so sick of having companies like Microsoft disregard the desires of "the market" and act like the monopoly they are that not using Vista has become as much a political act than it is a consumer decision.
You are welcome on my lawn.
I agree. I happened to buy a computer the first week Vista came out. I honestly didn't even realize it had come out. My old computer went bad and I needed a new one fast. I honestly can't see where all the gripes are. I leave it on all the time. It never crashes on me. It's only rebooted a couple of times because of certain updates it's gotten that required it (I know I know, why should an update require a reboot blah blah blah). It's really run like a dream. I don't have particularly fast hardware. It wasn't an expensive computer. I got it for $750 at Staples. I've never noticed a slow down because of aero. I run as a standard user and not as admin and the only time I get prompted for UAC is when I install something or I make system changes which is as it should be. (I had an issue with an HP program that assumed running as admin to check for updated drivers every day. Luckily that program was finally updated and so is no longer an issue.)
I mean honestly, what is the big problem? I keep reading articles and comments talking about how crappy Vista is and I just shake my head and say I don't get it. I don't know. I guess prejudices are hard to give up.
www.joshferguson.org
Let me know nine months from now if Vista can actually do anything for you that XP, Mac or gnu/linux could not do faster
My mother-in-law is a very unknowledgeable user. I bought her a computer a week after I bought mine and I set it up with Vista (came with XP but Vista had just been released so I got a free upgrade). My mother-in-law's biggest problem has always been her kids coming home to visit and downloading or installing crap. It's always been a challenge to lock her XP down. With Vista it's a piece of cake. She runs as a standard user and since she isn't a power user, she rarely has to be bothered by UAC. When she is, it's no big deal to enter the admin password. Now when I go to visit I don't have to spend hours cleaning off viruses and spyware. It all just works. She's never had an issue and I never have to fix something using the VNC server I installed on it like I used to with her XP.
As for faster, it really doesn't have a speed problem. I've never noticed any speed issue and that's with Aero running. It's an HP that I paid $650 for and it included a monitor. Not exactly high-end hardware.
www.joshferguson.org
So what the AC said, although obviously correct, should be ignored because we don't have a name attached?
One: Actions speak louder than words. The AC posted as AC intentionally, most likely because he/she/it is concerned that their credibility is already too crappy to be listened to or will be if they say things like... what they said.
Two: M$... Windoze... M$... Windoze... [unsubstantiated blabber]... M$... Windoze [bad spelling]... M$... Windoze... [self-references]... M$... Windoze... What was "unsubstantial" about the "blabber" other than the AC's opinion? What does "bad spelling" have to do with insight and correct logic? Did the AC mention that the "self references" each refer to a reposting of someone else's article by Twitter? That is not a self reference!
The only thing the AC was right about was that Twitter tends to use slurs like "M$" and "Windoze". While I agree that's retarded, it's not important if the rest of his post is valid.
The AC never gave anything but his own opinion about Twitter. Nobody should listen to his opinion of someone else if he's too afraid to even identify himself. We should listen to logic if he posts it. He didn't, not a shred.
I cannot wait to get Vista on my folks computer. My mother seems to trash their computer all the time. However, she'll aways call me whenever XP gives a "Are you sure, Dave?" message. With UAC, she'll be calling me every time she tries to install yet another DVD duplicator or some weird ass media player.
Or just try to use any version of Ciscos vpn software. Apparently the 5.0 version works *sometimes* and only on fresh installs of vista. I tried to verify it working on a fresh install of vista in a vm and it couldn't hold the vpn up for more than a few minutes at time. Back to XP I went...
Stats for a non-technical site with enough visitors to pick up meaningful statistics on less popular OS:
/.ers too young to remember CP/M.
All Mac variations 3.5%
Linux 0.1%
Symbian 0.01%
Solaris 0.003%
HP UX 0.001%
BSD 0.0005%
RISC OS 0.0002%
CPM 0.0001% (still more than 100 hits per month)
I thought this might be interesting as (a) a contrast to stats on OS usage derived from technically-oriented sites, and (b) just interesting to see some of the OS's still out there - I bet there's plenty of
In theory, there's no difference between theory and practice; in practice there is.
I've been doing slashdot since like 97 - right around senior year in high school. Back then I would have been a good little member of the cult of RMS, I would have been all "fuck the man" for software patents, I pirated software like hell (even had a really good warez server when comcast was beta testing cable modems) and I had gigs of mp3's.
If I'm anything like other people on Slashdot, I'm now older and wiser. I am about to plunk down $1,600 on Photoshop/Dreamweaver. I bought and paid for all the software on all my computers including Visual Studio, Quickbooks and Office Pro. I own two Vista boxes, one XP box and a Mac laptop. I've got half a rack of linux gear in the Westin building, but I've grown too old to pull my hair out with it's stability and I'm moving the farm to FreeBSD. I cannot wait until my business grows to the size then I have to plunk down cash for a wicked cool "big iron" system.
I've been through Slashdot and got bored. I went to kuro5hin before it died. I trolled with the best on adequacy before it died. I tried digg until it turned into youtube without video. It has been 10 years and despite everything, slashdot is still here going strong. As much as people diss slashdot, it is the only website of it's type that is still around. It may have new ajax tricks, but it is still the same as it was in 1997.
So has the traditional Linux stronghold been lost, or has the general slashdot population just grown up, got jobs and now see linux for what it is? A tool just like any other tool. And that is okay.
I don't think you are right. I bought a nice crap of the line dual core HP laptop with Vista Core 550$ added 50$ ram to bring it to 1.5 gigs. Hibernate as well as wifi work wonderfully. Standby is nice. I didn't used to have it so when I close the lid my laptop goes into standby. It is so fast now that I left it that way. Hibernation works alright but it seems to take a MUCH longer time to go into Hibernation. Coming out of hibernation is extremely quick though.
I thought I would hate Vista but it is alright when using the included programs. However a lot of my favorite programs like nero as well as many nice little things I run don't work right. Unless... you buy the upgrade. Same story as with XP but I really liked that upgrade and had no gripes with it whatsoever. I wasn't excited about XP but I loved it after I tried it out. Not really the same with Vista.
Vista is Ok for people who don't game. Maybe your error was in not buying a HP.... If you game like me the performance hit for Vista is wayy to much for me to deal with. There aren't any real great reasons to upgrade to vista you can already skin XP and get Yahoo widgets for free!