First Major Vista Update Released to Windows Users
As predicted by the rumor mill on Monday, the first significant update to Microsoft’s Windows Vista operating system has arrived.
Vista Service Pack 1 was released Tuesday. Vista users can install the update through the Windows Update application on their systems (Go to the Start Menu, then All Programs and select Windows Update). Vista SP1 can also be downloaded as a stand-alone installer package from the Microsoft Download Center. Additionally, Microsoft will be pushing the update out to all Vista users automatically in mid-April.
The release, the first major upgrade for the 14-month-old Vista operating system, offers what Microsoft calls "a year’s worth of improvements," including fixes for known hardware and performance issues. Some have criticized Microsoft’s slow release schedule for SP1, adding that Vista was released with too many bugs and is ripe for a major update.
Earlier this year, Microsoft had promised a mid-March arrival for Vista SP1. Yesterday, Amazon.com listed the software as being available starting March 19th. The code has also been in the beta testing stage for weeks and is widely available on BitTorrent sites worldwide.
If you don’t see SP1 in your Windows Update list, even after running a fresh "check for updates" scan, you may not meet the requirements. Some reasons to consider if it isn’t showing up:
- Vista SP1 is only available for users running English, French, German, Spanish and Japanese versions of the OS. The other 31 languages will follow in April.
- You must have all of Vista’s prerequisite Service Stack updates installed, so run those first.
- A full retail version of Vista is required. You can’t install SP1 on pre-release code.
- Some drivers have been known to cause problems with SP1, and Windows Update will not offer the package if those drivers are found on your system.
- SP1 may already be installed. But you knew that one, right?
Microsoft’s Nick White offers a lengthy overview of SP1 on the Windows Vista team blog, including the driver issues mentioned above and further details about future release schedules.
See Also:
