Vista SP1 Release Candidate Available

Microsoft has made available the release candidate for Vista SP1, after a limited beta begun last September. Informationweek points out white papers telling business users that if they were waiting for SP1 to solve application compatibility issues, they needn't bother waiting: SP1 won't solve them, and in fact might cause applications to break that were running under Vista. Techworld outlines the hoops users will have to jump through to get SP1 installed.

Comments

Total Cost Ownership study needs updating

[140Mandak262Jamuna]

The biggest challenge, according to independent software vendors and Microsoft, is getting apps to work with Vista's advanced security features, such as the User Account Control. It's designed to prevent desktop users from making changes to their system images without approval from an IT administrator. The feature operates at the kernel level and can affect the way third-party applications, including antivirus software, work.

Oh yeah, sure. MSFT dissed Linux with the Total Cost of Ownership BS. The cost of migrating applications to Linux was what had boosted the cost for Linux column. Now will Gartner re run the Total Cost of Ownership studies including the cost of migrating "XP to Vista"?

Oddest warning

[140Mandak262Jamuna]

The SP1 release candidate will have to be uninstalled before applying the final code in 2008, Microsoft warned as it also issued an odd caution on the subject. "After you uninstall Service Pack for Windows (KB936330), we recommend that you wait at least one hour before you try to install the final release of Windows Vista SP1," another support document read.

I have heard phone support script humanoid robots demand that I turn off the modem and router and wait for 30 seconds before switching them on. Kind of made sense, something like make sure all capacitors are fully discharged and the machines are really truly off.

In India there is a popular belief that if an AirConditioner is turned off one must wait for three minutes before turning it on. One technician hand waved about the compressor might be at some odd point in the cycle and suddenly making it run would "break" the shaft. Did not believe him. But in the last trip I find that all the A/C are connected to the grid through "voltage stabilizers" that have a delay timer to prevent the machine from being turned on too soon!

Now MSFT takes the cake! Wait for one hour after uninstalling software! Why? The pagefile is still thinking SP1 is running? The MSFT DRM software has to call in and tell Redmond that SP1 has been really uninstalled and get a confirmation back? Or uninstalled bits of SP1 is considered to be an radioactive waste and they must be beamed to Jupiter to be buried?

Re:Business users of Vista ?

[Dan Ost]

When we get new machines, the machines come with a corporate image already loaded. Our current corporate image is XP, not Vista. If a machine comes with Vista, it'll get wiped and replaced with the corporate image.

This is in a Fortune 100 company. I expect that this is typical of the other Fortune 100 companies.

Out of curiosity, anyone know what Microsoft's corporate image looks like? Specifically, is it XP or Vista based?

Re:So...

[JebusIsLord]

I've noticed that shutting down seems to be more reliable (as an aside, why is this a problem with EVERY SINGLE NEW OS Microsoft releases, for at least the first year? How hard is shutting down???).

File copies are faster (as in, they work properly now. Yay?).

My Hauppauge TV tuner still doesn't work with 4 GB of RAM (x64 edition). I have to set it to 3GB max in msconfig. Hauppauge says this is a vista driver model issue, but clearly it still isn't fixed.

Still slow as molasses.

I bought a Macbook back in the spring, and find myself pretty much only using the Vista box now as a media center server (Media center is still pretty damn cool). I'm usually pretty patient with MS, but Vista is clearly a useless upgrade thus far - I can't even use the 4GB of RAM! Might as well roll back to Media Center 2005.