
SP1 installing?
I have reports of a 193MB update available as manual update only today!
SP1 maybe?
Microsoft is running out of time to make its mid-March deadline for pumping out Vista service pack one (SP1) for general release as a manual download. Meanwhile, it looks like the software giant has failed to fix a key pre-requisite update in time, meaning that if SP1 does indeed arrive this week, an unspecified number of …
The "Vista SP1" CD you saw in the mag is actually PC Pro magazine - when you look closely at it you dont actually get the CD/DVD - what you get is a postcard that you fill in your details and mail to MS - when SP1 is released publicly to all, within a few weeks you should then recieve it on disk - no charge for any of it :)
The PC Pro review of SP1 is quite interesting. A file takes something like 11 seconds to copy from a usb key on XP, and 45 seconds on Vista with SP1.
File copying....the fundamentals of an OS and it's screwed.
In my opinion Vista is nothing more than XP with a few applications bolted on. Defender, UAC and desktop seach.
The most depressing thing of it all though is that I don't think Linux will step in and steal Windows thunder and OSX doesn't have the enterprise features required for the business market.
Time to hit Ebay and find me an Amstrad PCW I think.
The reason it is so large on disk (according to Microsoft sources) is that they decided to roll up all the different language versions and other variations into a single image, instead of making different images for different systems. If downloading the updates required for a single system, no system requires more than 100MB to be updated (according to Microsoft sources).
I say good idea to stop having a myriad of different version to confuse, but I would hate to be someone who has to download that giant stand-alone installation image.
Does anyone REALLY care anymore? I've already decided XP is the last Muppetsoft OS I'm ever going to us without a gun to my head, and I've officially lost interest in Vista, the desperate follow up to Vista, and the undoubted last gasp that will follow it a year later. Does anyone here intend to be PAYING for an OS that doesn't work 5 years from now? Thought not...
Bitter experience of MS's previous Service Packs means I will be quietly sitting back and watching the forums etc. for news of which apps/drivers/hardware get broken by this pack. In about 6 months I will start to consider the option but not before and I will still continue to dual boot with XP. Take your time MS.
It's all very worrying isn't it when a project starts/continues to miss its deadlines and milestones slip by with nothing to show. When that happens it punches holes in your confidence that the people running the project know what they're doing and how they're going to do it. In fact, it suggests to me that the developers on this project have little confidence in the product themselves and are now likely to rush things in order to achieve delivery.
In a way this is a good thing from a consumer perspective because if you see problems at this stage then it saves you the effort of making the purchase and going through the stresses and strains afterwards. Kind of like going to an electrical store and looking at a rather shonky toaster, you can immediately see that there were problems designing and manufacturing the thing and steer well clear.
Note specifically that I wanted to keep away from bashing Microsoft, the above comment should apply to most projects where you as the consumer have the choice not to buy the end result.
"Does anyone here intend to be PAYING for an OS that doesn't work 5 years from now? Thought not..." ..... By Old Painless Posted Monday 17th March 2008 20:44 GMT
Which would make XXXXPertEase ITs Current Driver Dealing Potential, Old Painless. That makes XXXXProSP2 ....... QuITe Priceless.
If you don't want vista avoid most HP Laptops, I bought one with the intention of removing Vista and installing Ubuntu or XP. That was 6 months ago and I still haven’t managed it. Neither XP or Linux can detect the HDD and it seems the option I need to change in the bios has been disabled.
HP don't support their hardware, instead they support Vista if its running on a HP machine.
Fingers crossed for the service pack in my opinion. Lets hope after upgrading to SP1 we are all greeted with the XP logo.
P.Hilton
SP1 made no noticable difference in the performance of my Vista Business laptop. File copying speed across a network was not improved at all in my case, and I still had the same issues as before SP1 with my DVD drive disappearing after Vista woke up from sleep.
So I reformatted the machine and installed XP, and wow what a breath of fresh air! Everything is quicker, and more responsive, and everything just works.
Vista is a complete dog, and always will be no matter how many service packs they throw at it.
Yesterday Amazon reported the 18th. Today it says "This item will be released on March 19, 2008" - and counting?
Maybe this is just the new answer to when is it ready. id software use "when its finished/ready" and MS/Amazon are using "tomorrow". Think id's is the smarter move as you're never late! But with MS, I suppose there is always a tomorrow.
I agree with the sentiments expressed above. Had to copy and burn some photos from a DVD for my girlfriend for her work – on her Acer Aspire 4920 Vista laptop it took, well… Let's just say the Druids probably had more luck with their henge-based computing solution.
I managed to boot my 4 year old supermarket-bought POS running XP (no battery, 128MB RAM, 1GHZ VIA CPU, crashes quite often due to age and abuse), copy it all over, plug in my external DVD writer, wait an age for Nero to load, burn the disc and scrawl the contents on the label, and the Vista machine was still only about 20% through the burn.
Something somewhere is seriously wrong when that’s the situation…
Keep dual booting mate.
I installed SP1 in the hope that it would fix a number of problems with Vista. It didn't.
All that happened is I can't print to my networked HP Office Jet Pro, the HP service crashes every few seconds until you uninstall it (though I blame HP for that - they must have had SP1 for a while now).
You are quite right to blame HP, a printer driver should not require a service, as many have said before if the printer driver can't fit on a floppy or 2 the printer is shit. Let me guess you have a bunch of z*.dll's, 7 different tray icons, and little yellow balloons popping up all over the place asking if you'd like to contact HP's web site to order supplies or download the latest bloatware?
Dead vulture 'cuz HP is dead to me as a manufacturer of quality printers.
Same here: HP is no longer a supplier of quality printers as far as I'm concerned. Last time I bought one, the first one had to be sent back because it was dead on arrival. Then its replacement died a few months later for no reason. Not to mention that the drivers are a complete pain in the neck and constantly want to connect to the HP website for no good reason, both on Windows and Mac. And don't get me started on their customer support!
You need to go in the bios and switch the SATA mode from native to something else, then XP can see the hard drive.
Dont understand why this would make a difference and i note HP dont supply the SATA drivers for XP for the F6 function.
HP Printers are getting worse, the amount of time i have to go through a server registry switching the print monitor back to the default to stop the spooler crashing and get the things printing is beyond me!
As for Vista SP1, i consider going from Vista to XP an upgrade, instant performance, responsive interface and intuitive layout (no where did that control panel applet go?? NO I DONT WANT YOU ASKING IF I AM SURE, NO I DONT WANT YOU ASKING IF I AM SURE I AM SURE EITHER - damn UAC)
SP1 is available from the Microsoft Download centre:
32 bit version here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b0c7136d-5ebb-413b-89c9-cb3d06d12674&DisplayLang=en
64 bit verison here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=874a414b-32b2-41cc-bd8b-d71eda5ec07c&DisplayLang=en
Just installed SP1 through Windows update tonight and it's works a treat. I think M$ have taken too much stick for Vista. Sure it's not perfect but no o/s is and that's what keeps us all in jobs! For a home PC I think Vista premium is great and a vast improvement over xp (even with it's initial bugs). I must be one of the very few who has found my system **more** stable with Vista over xp pro?? Just my two cents.....