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Vista SP1 Released to Manufacturing
Reverend Ninja writes "According to the Windows Vista team blog, Windows Vista SP1 has been released to manufacturing. It appears we'll have to wait until mid-March to play with it though, as the team cites that they want everyone to have a 'great install experience'. 'Service Pack 1 brings new improvements that are based on feedback we heard from our customers. It further improves the reliability and performance of Windows Vista. The information we collect thanks to tools like the Customer Experience Improvement Program, Online Crash Analysis, and Windows Error Reporting help us learn about where and when customers are having issues with Windows Vista and the applications that run on it. Since these issues have a direct impact on our customers' experiences, we've invested time and energy to make this better. While Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is an important milestone, we will continue to invest in the continuous improvement process.'"
Godammit, Taco, where can we post about Ron Paul??? If you don't want him in the article on Republican candidates, how about here?
Come off it already. "great install experience" ... hey, its not a f*cking condo timeshare!
And just to show that I'm not reserving my spleen for venting on Microsoft, This is as stupid as the naming conventions that have taken over in the open-source world, calling different versions by weird names,, like 'Gutsy Gibbon'.
Kevin Smith on Prince
Unless they removed the Digital Restrictions Management from the core of the OS, they couldn't have improved it that much.
It is still Defective by Design.
If I have nothing to hide, don't search me
Wherever a text box can be spammed by delusional Ron Paul supporters, you can do your part to increase the signal to noise ratio.
Ron Paul would allow an oil refinary to be built accross the street from you, and your only recourse would be a $200/hr lawyer.
I can't wait for this election to be over if for no other reson than becuase of Ron Paul spam.
The inside story is that the Windows team has abandoned Vista and is concentrating on Windows V7, based on Winmin which has been mentioned here before. They are embarassed about Vista and are determined to produce something very cool and on-time.
Let's see. Office is kicking their butt when it comes to delivering on expectations.
Would that be the "Would you like to re-install Windows XP" dialog?
Reading garbage like this makes me want to nuke Redmond from space.
You are all fucking bastards who rape babies on wheels
Does it run Linux ?
Of course this should be just as stable as Vista was originally. Anyone have bets as to how long before a significant program of widespread use is broken, or Vista breaks itself with SP1? I give it about 5 minutes following release.
Beyond that, has there been any actual basis showing that SP1 (of the testers) adds any form of significant performance enhancements? Last I read about improving Vista performance people basically said "turn off everything that differentiates vista from XP"
IIRC, torrents of Windows Vista appeared within about fifteen minutes of the RTM. Anyone have a link to SP1?
I've used a Vista machine at work for a little while now and don't really see it for being anything other than just another Windows version with cosmetic changes for the types of functions I use it for. I am mystified at the claims made about the operating system. Does anyone have any actual evidence that:
Sales are actually worse than previous Windows versions?
Actual poor performance on systems that actually meet the minimum requirements?
Problems with apps or games that weren't fixed with updates?
Security or virus problems?
Or any of the seemingly million other problems the operating system is claimed to have?
Notable changes in SP1 Hot fixes and patches rolled up in SP1 Release Notes document /. I've been mostly satisifed with my Vista install so far. The only real problems I've experienced is the repackaging of some of the SDK tools such as graphedit which used to be available as standalone, but the 64 bit vista specific version is only available as part of a multi-gig sdk download... Also some vendors have been slow to ship good drivers although I suspect that MS requiring a 64 bit for the "vista compatible" label and not requiring a 32 bit version will in time result in a better driver base.
Unlike most of the chatter I've read on
-*The above statement is printed entirely on recycled electrons*-
BTW, why aren't you using Firefox's built-in spelling checker? Your post has five spelling errors. If you're using IE, install IE7Pro and use it's spell checker.
They call them there people Paul-Tards.
"He's lost in a 'floyd hole"
Customer Experience Improvement Program? Is that anything like the Best Buy Rewards Zone, where the more information I give to Microsoft, the more they make me feel like I'm getting something of value back? Cos if so, I want to opt out right now!
Ars Technica claims that file copies are now 50% faster in SP1.
:-)
It should only take 65 and a half years, instead of 131, to copy 168 Mb of pictures now. What a great feature!
You spelled "its" wrong.
Inquiring minds want to know ...
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=94bb6e34-d890-4932-81a5-5b50c657de08&displaylang=en
Come and get it!
I love how they announce it then make us wait 6 weeks to actually download it. While I can perfectly understand not releasing it via Autoupdate immediately, at least give us a freaking place to get it manually from MSDN or the Download Center.
And I most certainly won't be trusting leaked torrent versions when it comes to Service Packs.
The Computations of AdamR
http://www.adamreyher.com
Am I becoming excessively cynical for thinking that SP1 for Vista was rushed out the door for marketing reasons?
It's common for people to wait for the first service pack before moving to a new software platform (not just Microsoft's), and I've seen in their marketing they've been attempting to address the "myth" (http://www.microsoft.com/australia/vistafacts/fact.aspx) that Vista won't be ready until SP1.
I'm predicting that SP1 will just be a bunch of already released hotfixes bundled together and won't do much to cover up the stench of excrement the product exudes.
I'm sorry that this is slightly flamebait, but I don't like Microsoft's products that much and I'm still bitter that my employer forced me to install Vista on my work laptop.
Why do you need a 'great install experience' when you can just force the update on your userbase?
Is it just me, or does this sound like a weaselly way of saying: "Yeah, we really haven't got a friggin' clue why our OS is messed up, so hopefully after this release we'll be able to start looking at the problems people are having."
Gifts for Geeks - Stuff that really matters!
and it doesn't appear to have helped reliability or performance as far as we can see. We still have TrendNet wireless nics that will not work using Vista drivers on a factory install of the OS. We still have file copy operations that should be timed with a calendar. We have Vistafied versions of applications that generate interestingly cryptic "unable to assign resource" errors.
I hope that any changes between RC1 and RTM are actually going to deliver on those promises they keep making.
load "$",8,1
As one of my Professors once said: "From crap you can get anything". It was true in predicate calculus and it's true with Vista.
1 Uninstall Firefox
2 Uninstall iTunes and any non Windows players
3 Uninstall Open Office
4 Update Vista
5 Max Firewall settings
I'm no Microsoft apologist, but I do think the unbridled hate that pervades /.'s reaction to every single Vista article is a bit out of hand. Maybe this will help stem the tide of Vista-bashing. Sure, Vista kinda sucks, but all Windows versions kinda suck. I think most people who are ripping on Vista for being the operating system anti-christ are forgetting how badly XP sucked pre-SP1, and even pre-SP2. 7 years ago, the chorus of "OH MY GOD XP IS SO MUCH WORSE THAN 2000! THERE'S NO NEED TO UPGRADE!" in every XP article's comments were eerily similar to the ones you hear now every time Vista gets a mention.
Vista's maturing, and as it does it'll become a better operating system, and everyone will benefit, even if they don't use Vista. Microsoft still competes largely on the basis of being a de facto standard. Vista's release has caused them to lose this edge somewhat, and the window has opened for their competition, who compete mostly on features, to get a little lazy (Leopard, anyone?). Microsoft competing more vigorously on their stale plank, assuming they don't magically find traction they've been unable to find for years, can't do anything but help the products on the market.
Okay, now it's time to cue the million responses calling me a Microsoft shill. Suggested topics: "There really was no reason to upgrade from 2k to XP, I still use 2k just fine," "Vista is beyond repair because of DRM," and "Vista is way more broken than Leopard, how dare you rip on OS X."
Even Jesus hates listening to Creed.
This week on WWE RAW we have the fight-to-the-death match of the century - brother against brother - OS against OS.
Will the newly-upgraded Microsoft XP Service Pack 3 be able to take on its younger brother Vista with Service Pack 1 or will it be too old in the tooth to stand up to its sibling?
In a fight scheduled to go several years and refereed by IT managers worldwide with the bragging rights of the very name "Windows" on the line, the world will find out which is the better OS.
Stay tuned for
Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 3
vs.
Microsoft Windows Vista Service Pack 1
this week on WWE Raw.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
I personally have experienced none of the problems you mention.
In fact, I haven't had any problems with XP, 2000, NT, CE, 98, 95, 3.11, 3.1, 3.0, DOS 3.3 either.
Who is on wheels: Slashdot users or the babies? It makes a big difference!
For a company so adept at spinning information into pro-MS propaganda (much like any big company, mind you), you would think that they would do a better job of obfuscating the fact that they have at least 3 different channels for collecting program crash information!
OK, so I'm trying to read the press announcement and my eyes keep glazing over. What I get is this:
I really just want to know if they include the flying chairs screen saver. Although granted, Vista's DRM will kick in and turn the screen blank...
Funny how you haven't listed Windows ME.
If you have ever taken a business class (which I have) you will know that Continual Business Process Improvement is not just a buzz-phrase but instead it's a way of life and a way of doing business. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quality_management) It means that you constantly look to improve the quality of the product, process etc. in such a way that improvments are realized and then you improve some more.
A good example of this is my form I use for processing new employees. When I first made it I left out some things. I wouldn't make sense for me to keep trying to make that old form work. So I changed it and added in the things I left off. Then we added another login which I needed to make sure I created. Therefore I changed it again. Each iteration becomes more streamlined and accurate.
Anyone know the intentions on Microsoft when it comes to exFAT?
...
Will it hold tight, like it has on NTFS, or allow cheap access to the net version of FAT?
I want exFAT on OS X
I bought a PC with vista on it and 2 seperate wireless networks had multiple issues. The only correction was to purchase a Vista Certified Wireless N $$$$$$ router to get my pc to work.
Actual evidence, no. Anecdotal evidence, yes. The Graphic designer here installed Vista (that was a mistake) and it brought his computer to it's knees. The problem was in the indexing service. I doubt they have fixed this but I don't know because he reverted back to XP. Also note that the actual minimum requirements are for the Home Basic version which doesn't actually have any of the "features and improvements" so touted by Microsoft. Therefore if you have the minimum requirements but not the requirements for Ultimate then you are much better off sticking with XP.
How's 'bout some hard fact 'bout what they're fixin'? And, er, um - what'll it break and how long 'til SP2 fixes it?
Woops, I forgot all about that.
But you're right I didn't have problems with that one either.
or with this one for that matter:
http://www.geocities.com/rcwoolley/
I need a 64 Bit OS. XP64 is too unsupported, and Vista won't even install on my hardware (don't know why, tried everything, there's nothing odd about my setup though). Someone turned me towards Server2008, which I downloaded from Microsofts site right away. I haven't installed it yet, but wanted to ask the community what its pros and cons were compared to both XP and Vista.
How would it fare as a workstation OS? Is it at all hampered by the memory hogging components that Vista uses? How about privacy? Why is it not getting as much press as Vista and XP as a viable alternative?
Thanks to anyone who can enlighten me on this!
Oh you poor baby. So call it 7.10. It's not like they're going to refuse to serve you a hamburger if you do.
The naming serves two purposes - it lets the geeks who do the work have some fun, and it's a great twit filter.
Right from GO it turns off humourless grouches who won't be happy with anything, and encourages people with some intellectual flexibility. That's an excellent idea for new software because by definition it's not going to be exactly what you're used to, and an even better idea for software trying to get a foothold because it means their critical initial user base will tend to be the more-cheerful people who are willing to experiment, and good-gosh, who even tend be polite and friendly when pointing out problems.
Ubuntu et al neither need nor want dickheads like you. The names are an advantage. Mainstream success will follow partly because of the good code & support a happy environment encourages, and partly because the greater population will notice the happy user base and associate it with the products.
... to have the service pack go RTM today and yet delay the release until a month later.
Unless Microsoft aren't concerned about leaks and torrents.
I'm with you. . . if they've started manufacturing discs of Vista SP1, isn't it a little late to be worried about a "great install experience"? I can only guess that what that means is they are burning what they've got now to discs, but they want to have a mini-service pack ready to roll-out with Windows Update as soon as people install SP1. . . "Thank you for taking an hour to upgrade to Vista Service Pack 1. In order to complete the installation process, Vista needs to connect to Windows Update to download and install SP 1.1, which should take another 1/2 hour to an hour. [OK]"
Let's say you're copying some files. The actual copying isn't that bad, but waiting for the copy window to appear might take a full minute. Starting an application is my cue to sit back and maybe make myself a drink. I'm going back to XP because a friend with an 8800GT and similar specs gets 700+FPS in a Q3 timedemo, whereas the overhead of Vista drops my two 8800GTs in SLI to ~400 FPS. DirectX 10 in Crysis isn't worth the waiting (and the shame).
Consciousness is a myth. Trust me.
nt
I was thoroughly disappointed with the capabilities on decent hardware of Linux in general.
I was looking forward to using it but denied at every turn. Back to the only OS that actually works with all of the hardware on my machine.
Call me when Linux is ready for prime time.
We're getting the guys together to install some Vista SP1! Bob's bringing the snacks and Larry is bringing the drinks, it should be a Great Experience(TM).
Obligatory blog plug: http://www.caseybanner.ca/
Has anyone actually done an enterprise deployment of Vista? Give me the news that everyone wants. When is XP SP3 coming out? That's what everyone really cares about. That's the news Microsoft is keeping silent. They don't want enterprise customers to know that XP is viable.
Well as a Vista user since day one. Both x64 and x86 I can say that Vista for home use is fine. Vista at the office is a nightmare.
Lets expand.
Vista at home turned out to be usable from day 1. There were some largish annoyances. Like the changes to network sharing and the in your face account control which I think is universally shut off by everyone. But for everyday use as an OS that is intended for use as a entertainment system or for those doing things like writing reports/essays etc. it's fine.
Vista at the office is frankly not even remotely usable. First and most importantly the IT staff of every office I have been in, in the last year have no training in the support and maintenance of Vista. The most common slap in the face was that most of the IT staff I have encountered believe that Vista is only 64 bit. This actually shocked me. So the first thing they usually state is that "Our current software will not run on Vista because it is not 64 bit." They are stating this based on the false assumption that Vista is 64 bit only. Staff knowledge issues are the largest issues I encountered. However issues like lack of working drivers, requirement for new upgraded hardware, unavailable working versions of software are all major issues.
Vista in the server room. I just don't have the guts, time or money to attempt that. The OS is no where near mature enough for that.
Vista SP1 we all hope will address the issue of uptake of the new OS. With uptake, the knowledge and support will follow. Lets hope that Vista SP1 does what XP SP1 did. With XP SP1 brought the vendors to the table and support came. XP SP1 was a dramatic improvement to the OS. XP SP2 brought the maturity that the office required. Will Vista SP1 be the sum of XP SP1 and SP2? I hope it is.
Unfortunately it appears that the negative press and Apple and Google's moves in the industry are forcing MS to build the rumoured Windows 7 and put effort into buying their way onto the net with hostile takeovers attempts. These moves can only split MS attention away from Vista refinement. This drop in attention never helps the end product.
The slashdot community has been one of my most referenced sources of information on the net. With SP1 looming on the horizon I await comments as to it's quality.
So they're holding off on SP1 for a 'great install experience'? Does that mean they want everyone to install Pre-SP1 and try out the locust-ridden Vista before installing the new SP1 with its signs of remission? Is this to better ratings by new users by making them say, "Oh, my experience greatly improved after installing SP1."
it's not about euphemisms.. it's about marketing, and it's not so '90s either.. it's still alive, even if you might be critical of the use of it.
watch http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/persuaders/view/ for a fairly interesting docu PBS did on it (warning: the fact that the people that are being interviewed take their jobs seriously is unnerving as well as a partial explanation of why and how they can keep coming up with stuff like it.)
Just my own anecdotal evidence from using Vista for a year on my primary PC well above minimum specs. (FYI I have 2GB of RAM and 1GB of Readyboost flash RAM.)
-Vista takes fucking forever to shut down or restart. It's frustrating enough to make me hard reset the PC everytime. One time I corrupted my iTunes library doing this. I still hard reset everytime because corrupted files are less annoying that waiting 5 minutes to restart. FUCK.
-Vista takes fucking forever to boot up. After booting it continues to prefetch apps from the hard disk for 10 minutes before I can use the PC. FUCK.
-When running Vista my soundcard crashes a few times a week. I know this is probably due to shitty soundblaster drivers but I never had sound card crashes in XP.
-Vista refused to stay in sleep mode for me or even start the screensaver automatically. This bug was aknowledged by Microsoft 11 months ago and only just got a fix in SP1. I've been running SP1 for about a month now and while it is an improvement (my PC will sleep now) it's still fucking Vista.
-Vista runs all my games slower than XP. Shitty graphics card drivers? Perhaps. Luckily I don't do much gaming on the PC anymore. Vista helped cure me of that addiction.
-Fucking UAC drove me insane until I downloaded TweakUAC to disable the prompts
-Vista refused to remember my folder view settings in Windows Explorer and to this day it still does.
-Vista refused to autostart my RAID monitoring application. I go into Windows Defender to set it to allow at start and the option is fucking greyed out. Nothing I could do would ungrey it. This garunteed 1 annoying UAC prompt at every boot. Fixed by disabling UAC prompts. FUCK.
-When troubleshooting some bad RAM Vista deactivated itself. How did I manage this? By rebooting my PC 1 DIMM at a time until I found the bad RAM. After 3 or 4 reboots Vista thought I had a new PC. I had to call India at 3AM and the call lasted over 30 minutes to resolve this. FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK.
-Vistas continuous flow of security updates seem to garuntee me at least 1 horrible reboot experience a week
The information we collect thanks to tools like the Customer Experience Improvement Program, Online Crash Analysis, and Windows Error Reporting help us learn about where and when customers are having issues with Windows Vista and the applications that run on it.
Translation: We'll spy on our customers until we figure out how to give this pig some wings.
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
Has anyone let the index thing finish? It has to suck while it is running. When (does it finish?) it finishes then see how the computer works. If the index kicks off every time you add files, then yes has to suck. If you can tell it to run when you are not using the computer (and stop when you start using the computer) it might stay out of your way.
Only one of the above are in the (potentially highly abuse-able) position of being able to push this onto the desktops of over 90% of all computers in the whole world, in the realm of mainstream computing - every document, every file, nearly every computer.
Each of those you've mentioned with HDCP support are in HIGHLY different situations with incredibly different potential ramifications, it is thus perfectly valid to get pissed selectively.
Seriously, wtf is Sony gonna do, at *worst* - cut you off from some games or movies? Now think about the worst-case of a company whose technology controls 90% of computers.
My question is, will the Vista DVD's we can buy off the shelf be re-released with SP1 included? I don't look forward to having to download the whole service pack after finishing the install process.
The only workaround I found was to tell it NOT to index certain types of files or to turn it off completely.
"7 years ago, the chorus of "OH MY GOD XP IS SO MUCH WORSE THAN 2000! THERE'S NO NEED TO UPGRADE!" in every XP article's comments were eerily similar to the ones you hear now every time Vista gets a mention."
Yeah, but XP came out less than 2 years after 2000. MS spent over 5 years on Vista and what did they come up with? A pretty interface and DRM. Vista is a giant blinking neon sign announcing that MS' devleopment process is broken--don't believe me? Read this.
Hey, I don't hate Vista. If I have to look at a monitor all day, I'd just as soon have a pretty OS to look at. But it's obvious that huge amounts of time and money were wasted, and maybe if enough of their customers rip on them MS will take the steps necessary (cue the rolling heads!) to do better next time.
Never let a lack of data get in the way of a good rant.
http://thepiratebay.org/tor/4007215/microsoft_windows_vista_with_service_pack_1_x64_rtm_e%20nglish_reta
http://thepiratebay.org/tor/4011992/microsoft_windows_vista_sp1_x86_eng_rtm
I hope the audience is taking notes. In the above he excludes himself (and slashdot by extention) from the catagory that's "uber-incompetent".* Then follows up with a "make themselves sound important" even if they don't have a clue. Ignoring all the 5: insightful's seen over the eight plus years slashdot has been going that were shot full of holes by follow-up posts.
*Yeah! Slashdot never manipulates the english language purely to get people over to a given position.
"The OEM Bios exploit, which involves modifying system files and the BIOS of the motherboard to mimic a type of product activation performed on copies of Windows that are pre-installed by OEMs in the factory."
They can't do this to me, do they have any idea how many OEM installs WGA breaks daily already? The dead systems from that 'fix' are going to flood the call centers.
Apparently I need a new job before mid march, I am not going through that.
Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite (TM)
"Not that it'll be bug free... I'm sure it will be ridden with mistakes and problems, accidental and deliberate. But it won't be because of lack of effort. I'm sure some Microsoft employees have poured their heart into this thing."
Just because you use a gold plated wide-mouth container for carting "night soil" doesn't mean you not hauling a bucket full 'o stinking shit.
Keerist. I've been hearing about Vista for YEARS, how it was going to be the 'be all and end all' and now they have to TWEAK it?
Linux has episodic incremental releases.
OS X has episodic incremental releases.
Windows has "events".
What unmitigated bullshit.
MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
Everybody's waiting for SP2 to come out before they upgrade to Vista, so Microsoft might as well just crank out the service packs.
And yet, you continue to use it. Why? (Not a troll, I'm seriously interested in your answer.)
Good, inexpensive web hosting
-Vista takes fucking forever to boot up. After booting it continues to prefetch apps from the hard disk for 10 minutes before I can use the PC. FUCK.
Vista takes 5 seconds longer to boot up on my laptop than Ubuntu to get to the log in screen. Ubuntu takes a few seconds longer than Vista to get to the desktop. Overall, Ubuntu wins by a whopping 2-3 seconds. Whooptie friggin do. And what the fuck is shutting down? Is your crock of shit PC so ancient it doesn't support suspend?I only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't looking good either. - Scott Adams
Will there be away to update your install disk to have sp1 and efi and bios boot for the 64 bit disk.
Or will there be a free iso download as you need the key to install and all ver of vista come one the same 32 bit or 64 bit disk.
I've just helped a friend upgrade...
Upgrade to Kubuntu, I mean!
Circumcision is child abuse.
Customer Experience Improvement Program == Now includes built-in tray notifications to let you know how much better off you'd be *purchasing* an upgrade to Windows XP Professional.
ROFLMAO! I don't know which part of that sentence deserves more emphasis. It's equally stupid anyway you look at it.
What FOR? Please tell me! (I might have to go change my underwear after this one)
As if there's a mountain of 64-bit Windows workstation applications (as in software OR practical use) waiting to be unleashed if only you could find the OS to run them!
I feel you though, I 'need' a minesweeper clone for this z9 I have stuffed under my desk. Gosh! WTF is taking them so long? Is it at all hampered by the memory hogging components that Vista uses? You 'need' a 64-bit machine and you're worried about OS memory overhead. ROFLS,
It's nicer than USB2 because it's faster and uses a crap less CPU. But Microsofts implimentation is blastimous to a very well constricted out but badly marketed technology.
Once you start despising the jerks, you become one.
Someone wake me up when XP SP3 is released...
By now, everyone knows vista sucks. Its not the quirky rantings of the slashdot crowd, its the warnings from mainstream consumer media and magazines. Besides, Vista is for home users. The ones stuck with a retail PC, too dumb to pirate XP (since it will not be available at retail for much longer), and too afraid to use Ubuntu. For corporate users, Vista with SA has one (and only one) good feature - Downgrade Rights! Long live XP.
Corporate users will kick the tires again with SP1, and then stick with XP until the next version of Windows comes out. SP1 will fail our predeployment testing at the same point RTM failed, because Microsoft's own admin tools for exchange (ESM) and windows server 2003 (adminpak.msi) will neither install nor run. It will never make it out of the test lab. But its pretty.
I do feel sorry for those home users, so I always keep (K)Ubuntu discs on hand.
Vista has a lot of instrumentation for when things go wrong, more then any previous OS release. It's amazingly productive and useful when you can prioritize and fix issues based on real world data instead of guesswork and vague bug reports.
Why should anyone be suprised that Microsoft is proud of that ability and it's results in SP1?
That would be true if Fair Use was "supported". Fair Use is what you are legally permitted to do by copyright law. DRM takes away some of those legally permitted uses. That's a restriction if ever there was one.
Too late, Microsoft... I already changed my 5 home systems to Apple iMacs. If you never used an Apple computer, you must see it and you'll put your PC in the trash in a few minutes. Believe me.
But if you're a die hard PC user that doesn't want to use "real computers" and a real OS... then do yourself a big favor: DO NOT BUY WINDOWS VISTA, do not even pirate it... it's just crap.
Seriously... go to an Apple Store and sit on an iMac for some time and test it... I bet you'll be amazed and forget the PC with their crappy Linux and Windows. On this way, the PC will be dead in a few years.
Technically, "it's" is spelled correctly. The issue is that the contraction was used instead of the word of the same pronunciation.
Have gnu, will travel.
What happens when the "Online Crash Analysis" server in Redmond crashes?
---- "Logoff! That cookie shit makes me nervous!" - A. Soprano
It'll auto-install the Yahoo Toolbar for Internet Explorer!
"It was a summer's tale: Just a boy, his Linux, and a head full of dreams..."
In other news, a new bycicle store opened for fish.
In other words, who cares?
Real Nerds don't do Microsoft.
I liked to insist on that too, but I finally gave up. Technically, if not logically, "its" has no apostrophe (mercifully, people rarely need to use "it" in the plural form).
Property is theft.
The OEM Bios exploit, which involves modifying system files and the BIOS of the motherboard to mimic a type of product activation performed on copies of Windows that are pre-installed by OEMs in the factory.
The Grace Timer exploit, which attempts to reset the "grace time" limit between installation and activation to something like the year 2099 in some cases.
Actually the "network/audio QoS" bug you talk about is not fixed in SP1. More tech details:
It's going to take a month and a half to create a good "install experience"? Ubuntu update manager suddenly looks state of the art. A team of people should not need a month and a half.
Censorship is the opposite of education. If neo-darwinism were defensible, people would not need to try and censor ID.
The thing is, opposed to XP i REALLY like the vista indexing service (and its integreation into the start menue).
The old start-menue (with 4-tiered menue hierarchy), i.e. the shit every linux gui copied, got old pretty quickly. Now you can just type into that box and use autocomplete. Not only for startmenue items, but also for the document index, with results as two seperate lists.
While i was always pretty serious about using the explorer and folder hierarchies to organise stuff, but after upgrating i feel this as a real benefit to user experience.
I have it for a week now, and already i couldnt think about going back to xp.
Also, under "Energy Options", you can select the priority of the index service. Also IOs of the index service run with low priority. Looking at the Ressource Monitor, i can see them defered and having 100s of miliseconds of latency while app requests are in the 10s (because they are priorized).
So I cannot really see a way how the indexer should block any recent system (maybe if the HD had a million doc files on it or something...)
HI O WISE PRINCE. WHT TOOK U SO DAM LONG?
I don't think I can call this hard evidence of anything, but Vista on my laptop tends to lag even when doing simple things like opening up a folder in Windows Explorer. With lagging I mean that the folder window stops responding at all for a period of maybe 10-20 seconds. (Showing the grayed out window if I try clicking on the window.) This is on a gaming laptop with Core 2 Duo 2GHz, 2GB RAM and NVidia 8600M. It sometimes lags in other programs too, but since I can't tell if the fault lies with Vista or with the programs, I'll give Vista the benefit of doubt.
That is however the biggest complaint I have for Vista. Other than the lagging problem, I don't really have much against Vista. (Disabling UAC was one of the first things I did though.)
Vista has not had *poor* sales in that it will probably be deployed on the majority of replacement computers in the world over the next few years. However, if news reports are to be believed both Linux and Mac OS have been making significant advances in market share. I presume that will be making a dent in Microsoft's sales figures.
I have used Vista and (while I also did not find it to be anything special other than another reincarnation of Windows) I found in clumsy and awkward in comparison to OS X (of which it is blatantly a copy).
Well, this comes today from the people that make our mission-critical software (development kits that we use), in response to us getting new PCs from Dell.
"Windows Vista is not compatible with [devkit] but [corporation] is working on making them compatible. Do not try to load boards [using USB connector] using Vista because it will fry the boards."
So we have to upgrade the new PCs from Vista to XP (it is an upgrade because they will run faster, and run more software, and not fry our hardware).
Do they mean this one by any chance?
Slashdot has covered this before but, conspiracy theories aside, isn't the possibility of a backdoor enough to make this algorithm a misfeature?
Don't panic, it's not a security problem for you unless software developers choose to use it. I just can't see why they are giving us such a bad option.
Is there any hard evidence that Vista is better, faster and more reliable than XP?
Because until we know what you'd consider "hard evidence" proving what you currently believe in we don't have any idea when you say "that isn't evidence" whether this is because you don't want to consider it evidence or because you genuinely don't think it evidence.
Redmond, WA, Feb 4 (BSIS) After numerous delays, the widely-expected Service Pack 1, or SP1, for Microsoft Vista was sent from the development team to the Microsoft organization responsible for manufacturing CDs and online bits for the use of customers. Many analysts have predicted that SP1 will be in the hands of "end users" by approximately April 1, a traditional Microsoft-related date.
Microsoft occasionally releases these "service packs" to minimize or obfuscate the more egregiously defective "features" in its software, which is known to infect hundreds of millions of "PCs"; computers that would have been classed as "supercomputers" a few short years ago. The company's "Vista" product, an aggressively-marketed degradation of its long-time "Windows" line, has been singled out for more-than-usual ridicule and loathing since its release over a year ago. Though admitting that sales of Vista have been slower than previously commanded, Microsoft has recently been forced to swallow embarrassment and 're-release" Windows XP to the retail and manufacturer channels. Millions of PCs have been upgraded from Vista to XP since then. SP1 had been touted as carrying Microsoft's hopes that its newest cash cow would finally be taken seriously by analysts and usees.
However, sources tell BSIS, immediate and severe problems have arisen around the "impending" public release of Windows Vista SP1. A source who spoke on condition of anonymity explained, "Manufacturing got the gold masters for SP1 a few hours ago, both for the "upgrade" and "new insallation" versions. Unfortunately, a low-level employee attempted to actually install the complete system (Vista and SP1 together) on one of their machines, and the entire Manufacturing network blue-screened." ("Blue-screened" is a term used to refer to the "Blue Screen of Death", an indication that Microsoft's software has encountered an impossible or unusual condition, such as disk or network data transfer.) "When we rebooted the systems, all they would do was display a video of SteveB (Steven A. Vallmer, CEO of Microsoft) throwing chairs at some poor girl. It was horrible. We had to put new (disk) drives into every single PC to get them working with XP again."
No official or independent confirmation of this chain of events was available by the time this story was filed. Microsoft continues to insist that all is well. A public-relations official, speaking off the record, quipped, "Hey, if Bush can get away with all the (stuff) he's pulled, why does everybody pick on us?"
In related news, Microsoft shares continue their long-term downward trend.
In 2008 Microsoft seems to be ushering in the golden period for professionals working within a Windows platform computing environment. With an avalanche of releases dubbed the "Global Launch Wave", the Microsoft IT community is gearing up for one of the most important enterprise launches ever in its history. A conference dubbed 'Bleeding-edge .NET' is being organised from May 19-20 in India to gather the Indian .NET developer ecosystem to be a part of this golden period of bleeding-edge enterprise development solutions that use Microsoft's powerful developer tools, frameworks, and platforms. The conference aims to discuss and debate new technologies emerging from the Microsoft stable; tune into .NET's laser focus on business-critical applications, and soak into experiential learning of software development tools and practices in the golden period of .NET; topics covered include Visual Studio 2008 & .NET 3.5, Databases/SQL Server/Language Integrated Query (LINQ), C# 2008/WWF/WCF/WPF, BizTalk Server/BPM/SOA, SharePoint & Search, Visual Studio Team System and Silverlight, Spring .NET, DWM etc. Besides there is also awards for 'Product Excellence' and everyone is invited to send in nominations; see http://developersummit.com/awards.html.
I read the FUD, the anti-FUD, the BS. In the end I simply state "Vista, is simply not right for what I want to do, right now." I prefer my Ubuntu, it does me just right. I like the fact that I have everything I need for free. I'll be honest, when I was running Windows, if wanted to do something I would simply fire up uTorrent and a browser and keep ripping stuff off from torrent sites until I found something that worked. I filled HDDs full of shite, for good reason other than being lazy. Now I have an O/S that I need to work a little harder with, but I know when I download software, the local Polizia won't be banging my door down. My missus now uses a Mac for much the same reason, if she wanted to do something, I would rip stuff off for her too.
I'm not trying to be all full of Linux or Apple righteousness, it's a free world (mostly), pays yer money makes yer choice, Lin and Mac just work for me at the moment. Maybe I'll change with "Windows 7", but right now it has helped me kick my addictive pirating habit, which Windows fostered in me.
Windows guys please stop pissing on everyone and the Linux guys stop pissing in the wind, hoping to hit Windows guys!
I just bought new monitor (22' widescreen) and graphics card (GeForce 8800GT). I would really like to use DirectX 10. The newer games are starting to support it. For this I would need Vista. What I want to know is if Vista w/SP1 is good enough to use. Can I replace XP with it and get a better experience in games and light non-game use? (For any real work I'll use a remote linux server anyways.)
Computers are useless. They can only give you answers - Pablo Picasso
1. Points. 2. Laughs. 3. Laughs some more. 4. ...
5 PROFIT!!!
And my experience beta testing, and just about everyone else I know is that this is "by far" the best version of Windows Server yet. The server version is nothing like Vista in terms of user experience (despite the fact they're built from the same code base). Basically everything gets better, and you get more functionality. They just need the server team to work on consumer OS now :-)
See this eweek review: http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Infrastructure/Windows-Server-2008-Is-Microsofts-Leanest-Meanest-Yet/
This is the same problem that MS has had for something like 10 years. When they first snuck indexing into Office, your computer would slow to a crawl for no apparent reason until you turned it off (assuming you could figure out what was causing it, which 95% of users would _not_ be able to do). Then there was the indexing service in XP which was a big performance hit. The problem with Microsoft is that they never learn a lesson.
You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
What a bunch of intellectual whiny babies you are Slashdot! Why don't you band together and come up with a Slashdot OS instead of ACTING like a bunch of sidelined second stringers that lack the skills to put forth a real contribution? Surely this community of bright people can come up with something better than Vista or Service Pack 1 rather than bitching about Microsoft all day. The future of Slashdot reaks of inaction and hot air with no substance.
Go ahead and mod be down - been there, done that.
Obviously you have missed all the fla^Wdebates about tuning linux kernel for server usage or ui responsiveness over last 6 months...
SP1? you are quite brave...
;))
NT 4.0 went stable with SP3. Ish. SP6a really made a difference, but came too late.
Windows 2000? SP4. Again, rather late in the cycle.
XP - ok, SP2 is pretty good. SP3, if to judge by past experience, will be a fuckin hotrod screamer (good
Vista and SP1? No way. SP1 (from microsoft) qualifies product for initial experiments and light research. As in - stable beta.
Quote from the blog: "The key learning over the last year is that when we change the operating system, it takes time to let the ecosystem make sure that the hardware and software that they build works well with Windows Vista. So as we release Windows Vista SP1 to manufacturing, we are going to be thoughtful about when and how it gets distributed." Note that the Microsoft wants to "make sure" that the "ecosystem... hardware and software" must "work well with Windows Vista" and *not* that Windows Vista works at all with the "ecosystem". And as a result of this musing, Microsoft plans to ration SP1. being "thoughtful about when and how it gets distributed". This is yet another declaration by Microsoft that the market marches to Microsoft's beat and that Microsoft can produce any crummy thing that they please and the "ecosystem" has to adjust to Microsoft.
Suspend was broken for me until installing SP1 about a month ago.
Because I'm too lazy to look for my XP key, backup my data, and then reinstall XP. I've decided to wait for Intel to release Penryn and then I'll upgrade to a new PC with XP or switch to Apple.
Generally, if you have XP, you can get the same functionality with Find and Run Robot and Locate32. Oh, and locate32 only indexes when you tell it to/schedule it to. Both are free.
The problem isn't so much Vista's features as it is a big meh vs what everyone who cared already has in XP with free or cheap 3rd party add ons.
For me, Vista's big problem isn't that it's slow. It's that it's slow for me to operate because MS, like every time before, decided to *MOVE EVERY DAMN* setting location so I can't find anything. Oh, and lots of hardware doesn't work because manufacturers suck with the drivers. Not MS fault, but there it is (same as it isn't Linux's fault, but doesn't matter, I can't use it without buying new crap).
So I'm still left with, what do I get? New Features? Not really, I can skin XP if I fell like I need eye candy. I've got indexed search that doesn't kill the PC. I've got keyboard find as you type access to the start menu. I've got breadcrumbs via Directory Opus, and way the hell more of a file manager in general. I've got CDBurnerXP for DVD and CD Burning. I've got Comodo Firewall for a actually USEFUL HIPS (and 2 way firewall) vs UAC which is just a PITA that has to be turned off (for me anyway).
Vista isn't more stable than XP. Vista isn't more secure than the above setup. Software still comes out for XP, and it doesn't look like it's stopping.
I build my own PCs, so I'd have to get the retail version of Vista if I want to be legal (if I do understand their licensing, which is kind of confusing). They aren't selling me on Vista like they did with XP over 98SE. Now with new PCs, bought in the store, it's half and half if people want Vista or XP. Lots want XP because of familiarity. I really think MS just want's to make it harder on itself... otherwise, why is the UI for Vista about as similar to XP as KDE is?
Opera, Proxomitron-Grypen,GPG 0x0A1C6EE3