Windows VISTA’s Service Pack 1

You may have noticed recently that new PCs claim to have Windows VISTA Service Pack 1 proudly displaying as part of the VISTA logo or a sticker on the CPU. If you bought a PC say about six months ago, you might want to do this update, since your VISTA was Vanella. The service PACK was released on Feb 6 2008.

What is this Vista Service Pack 1 ?

• It’s just a compilation of all the errors that VISTA faced, upon installing it makes your VISTA secure, reliable.
• It doesn’t give you any extra features.
• It makes VISTA recognize new hardwares.
• It makes VISTA more secure
• No, this is not a free software given by Microsoft with additional gadgets or free games.

Should I update it ?

• Don’t rush. Many have already complained that upon doing so, some of their programs don’t work again and they had to remove it completely. Some programs started running slowly, take this article that say’s Firefox (one of the most popular Internet Browsers) runs slow on a machine with 2G Ram and Windows Vista Service Pack 1. Many Tech gurus have agreed that VISTA’s Service Pack is a hidden treasure from Microsoft, much of what it does is only Microsoft knows.
• You will need to reboot your computer 3 times. That makes you wonder why ?
• I strongly advice you to read this wonderful article to learn more as you read on. View this article from PC Magazine’s online site - which has indepth analysis of this service package which you will find a good reading and useful as well.
• To learn A to Z about the package, please go here, Microsoft Website Just remember to read everything before you download and run this Service Pack. There a few bold letters there on the page, so read them and be cautious. Also the file size is huge. If you are on a dial-up, do this before you goto bed time! To download the service pack for all languages, go here KB936330 from their Knowledge Base
• Microsoft states on the above page if you have already clicked “Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is an update to Windows Vista that addresses key feedback from our customers. SP1 addresses specific reliability and performance issues, supports new types of hardware, and adds support for several emerging standards.” Those bold letters makes me wonder what they really mean? What are the emerging standards. Considering that you have updated recent updates as advised by your Windows Live Update, that is for updates related to “Security” you should be fine without running this update. I haven’t bothered about it. If you have installed it and have had any problems, discuss.

Vista encourages its users to download and use Service Pack 1, you can see for yourself whether it will benefit you or not. Here is their wonderful site where you can not only learn but discover VISTA that’s already on your PC. Anyone doing service pack upgrade, my best advise is, have those recovering CDs ready in-case something goes wrong, such as the nice program you use to make your video don’t work suddenly or some kind of weird error pops up or your Firefox becomes slow and so on. For update hungry ones, this is the site you need to go to http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/sp1.mspx

If you asked me the question, have I already done it. No. I am still waiting. There might be Service Pack 2 coming out soon. LOL !

Ruben