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Microsoft finishes Vista SP2

By | April 29, 2009, 2:57am PDT

Summary: Yesterday’s rumors were true: Microsoft has released to manufacturing Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. At the same time, Microsoft has begun pushing Vista SP1 to Automatic Update users who previously had opted to block it.

Yesterday’s rumors were true: Microsoft has released to manufacturing Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 R2.

SP2 hit the torrents on April 28, hours before Microsoft officially announced it was done (via a posting to the Windows Vista Team Blog). It’s tough to say exactly when SP2 will be available for sanctioned download. Originally it was expected by the end of April (which still could happen if Microsoft posts the code to one of its download sites by tomorrow). But it also could slip into early May.

All Microsoft is saying is it will start pushing the final Vista SP2 bits to customers via Automatic Update over the next few months. Customers who aren’t ready for it can use Microsoft’s service-pack blocking tool to postpone the delivery of the SP2 bits from Windows Update and WSUS.

Microsoft also noted in the same Vista Team Blog posting that, as of April 28, it has begun pushing Vista SP1 bits to users who previously had blocked it using the blocking tool.

Microsoft is advising users who are midway through deploying Vista SP1 to proceed with their deployments as planned, rather than to rush to deploy SP2 instead.

As noted previously, Vista SP2 includes security and performance updates, plus a handful of new features, including:

  • Windows Search 4.0
  • Bluetooth 2.1 Feature Pack
  • Ability to record data on to Blu-Ray media natively in Windows Vista
  • Windows Connect Now (WCN), which is designed to “simplify Wi-Fi Configuration”
  • The addition of support for UTC timestamps in the exFAT file system

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Mary Jo has covered the tech industry for more than 25 years for a variety of publications and Web sites, and is a frequent guest on radio, TV and podcasts, speaking about all things Microsoft-related. She is the author of Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft plans to stay relevant in the post-Gates era (John Wiley & Sons, 2008).

Disclosure

Mary-Jo Foley

Freelance journalist/blogger Mary Jo Foley has nothing to disclose. WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). I do not own Microsoft stock or stock in any of its partners or competitors. I have no business ventures that are sponsored by/funded by Microsoft or any of its partners or competitors.

Biography

Mary-Jo Foley

Mary Jo Foley has covered the tech industry for 25 years for a variety of publications, including ZDNet, eWeek and Baseline. She has kept close tabs on Microsoft strategy, products and technologies for the past 10 years. In the late 1990s, she penned the award-winning "At The Evil Empire" column for ZDNet, and more recently the Microsoft Watch blog for Ziff Davis.

Got a tip? Send her an email with your rants, rumors, tips and tattles. Confidentiality guaranteed.

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RE: Microsoft finishes Vista SP2
makrekwe22-24353592616043023999354151110553 Updated - 11th Nov
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RE: Microsoft finishes Vista SP2
Gis Bun 29th Apr 2009
Unlike previous SPs, SP2 requires SP1. So if you don't hsve SP1 installed, you win't see SP2 in the AU/MU/WU.

Unsure why people are in a rush to install it. who knows if there are any issues.
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Not sure why people would wait
Speednet Updated - 29th Apr 2009
SPs have traditionally been of very good quality, and almost always have a dramatic positive effect on a PC -- whether it's a high-end or low-end PC. I can't fathom why anyone would wait, other than having concerns about a custom software app that relies upon low-level functions that may have changed. But I think it's a good assumption that there are a relatively small number of such applications.
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XP SP2 clobbered all my external HDs
ThePrairiePrankster Updated - 29th Apr 2009
But in all fairness, I should have followed the instructions and disconnected the USB hard drives but I thought it wasn't necessary. I was wrong.

So I will wait two weeks after Sp2 is released, check out the blogs and see if there are problems. If not, then I will read AND follow the instructions, and I figure it will be fine. I will definitely disconnect my external drives regardless, once burned, twice shy.

Have a good day.
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Clarification
Hallowed are the Ori Updated - 29th Apr 2009
When you say "clobbered", do you mean the drives were physically damaged, or did it just hose your data?
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and unimportant to a windows user as your words imply, then, what can we say?
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Data files unreadable, corrupted
ThePrairiePrankster 29th Apr 2009
The devices were functioning, the data was hosed.
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Hmm
Speednet Updated - 29th Apr 2009
That's funny, I have external drives up the ying-yang and never had the smallest problem during any SP installs.

I'm sure with ANY software patch, there is some percentage of people who will have problems. I don't think that is generally-speaking what most people experience though.

Also, I would guess that a higher percentage of people browsing this blog would have problems than the general public, because of the extreme setups by the technology-driven types here.

I personally never understood the wide chasm between technology-oriented people and the general public until the last several years, when my web site aimed mainly at people who are mainly non-technical became rather large, and I was quite humbled at my own pre-conceptions.

If I had not lived through that experience, I doubt I would have ever believed it.

Since that time I have tended to take a larger view on things, and hence my comments earlier today.

For the average computer user, Microsoft's SPs are absolutely non-harmful, and in fact have immediate and profound positive effect.

My issue is that I have to teach people (a) about installing upgrades (many don't have auto-updates set), and (b) about the importance of staying current to avoid security holes. That's why I placed such a heavy emphasis on upgrading from IE6, among other things.

Windows SPs are an extremely valuable tool to get users more secure, and I hope people install them as soon as they possibly can.
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Linux killed my cat
honeymonster 30th Apr 2009
and OSX scratched my car.

I swear, I installed Ubuntu Server on a virtual
machine and the same day my cat went missing. I
found it a couple of days later.

My friend scratched my car with his new macbook
when getting out. Those damn macs!
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It's more like...
InAction Man 30th Apr 2009
That damn car!
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It would not restart in any way, shape, or form. Had to reinstall Win XP and start from scratch. I have since learned that I am not alone with this SP3 problem. I do not recommend installing it to my friends.
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It happens.
megamanx 5th May 2009
It doesn't happen all the time. I have installed it on 3 pcs and no errors. There is one problem with one of the ones I installed it in, but that was because I did registry and junk file clean up during installation. Not a bright idea when installing something. XD
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Arghh
barry@... 1st May 2009
Well that sucks, I was hoping this would fix my issue of not being able to update to SP1 due to a Windows error.
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RE: Microsoft finishes Vista SP2
JohnDoeSuperman Updated - 29th Apr 2009
We care because I guess because he likes to show his stupidity and we can get a good laugh at him?

I have Linux machines where it applies. I have a majority of windows. In reality they are both the same. You have to patch them both if you keep up on that a lot of your problems go away and stay away. Linux take a heck of a lot more initial configuration and setting up and then getting stuff to work on it is a pain. However once you get it your good until there is a major update or something. In reality they are all pretty much the same. Just more viruses written for windows, and then more hackers target Linux. Both of them as long as properly secured with ports blocked and so on are same on security both patch as often.

Really as far as uptime goes, so far I haven't found anything to rival HP-UX, however some of the old VAX machines lasted a long time. <Checks Uptime> Yep 1941 days uptime. Little over 5 years since reboot.
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Novell 3 and 4
LiquidLearner 29th Apr 2009
were pretty good. I remember the good old days of Y2K checking servers and workstations. I went to check a novell server that had been up 7.5 years. Restarting it to do the Y2k check killed it, the drives couldn't spin back up. Not the fault of the OS but sometimes being up that long can be dangerous, or at least could have been.
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Man! I loved those VAX machines.
I am Gorby 29th Apr 2009
My dream ultimate OS would be something that is half way between XAX/VMS and Unix.

Mmmmm!
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re: why not better out the gate?
bb_apptix 29th Apr 2009
A rule of thumb we always followed was don't buy a new car model in it's first year of release. Wait until they made changes and revisions.

Release dates are driven by marketing and management, not by production and product realities and/or readiness.
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@bb_apptix
Axsimulate 30th Apr 2009
That is the question I asked several times, and my posts keep getting deleted. Expect this one to get deleted as well.
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RE: Microsoft finishes Vista SP2
michael.burgess@... 29th Apr 2009
We at MS will relase (oops) release, no oparating (oops) Operating System befar (oops) before it's time.

Here is a brand new OS and now we are at SP2 er, SP3 er Rev whatever.

When are people going to learn.. It's time to cut the rope when then anchor is stuck on the bottom and go and buy a new anchor.

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Brand new? It's 2 1/2 years old.
ye Updated - 29th Apr 2009
When are people going to learn.. It's time to cut the rope when then anchor is stuck on the bottom and go and buy a new anchor.

Because most people don't see it that way.
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May Vista die a quiet death
hasta la Vista, bah-bie 29th Apr 2009
2 1/2 years and people still have major problems with it. It's been a dog for many people (myself included) from the get-go.

It wouldn't surprise me at all that this is the last major development M$ puts into it. Then they'll run away from it. lol...

Of course, not you ye... wink
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Vista has been Great for me
jpr75_z 29th Apr 2009
I have been using it since RC1 and have had virtually no issues at all. To say Vista is a dog, is a silly characterization. No OS is perfect or ever will be. I am looking forward to Win7, but have no regrets about using Vista.
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@jpr75_z
Axsimulate 30th Apr 2009
I wish I could say the same. We have several high-speed copiers. When printing to them via XP, they print at approx 70-80 ppm. When printing to them via Vista they print about 1-2 ppm. This is using the Vista print driver that is no more the 2 months old.
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It already did!
InAction Man 30th Apr 2009
Apparently V*sta SP3 is just win7 or win7 is just V*sta SP3, which means the same OS will be running under two different names.

The V*sta name has already died but it's guts will still be living under a different name.
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RE: Microsoft finishes Vista SP2
tsb278 29th Apr 2009
I'm confused. Microsoft states that the SP2 Beta program concluded on the 28th. Wouldn't there be some time between a Beta program conclusion and an official RTM date?

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dd262148.aspx
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Rabble Rabble Rabble
LiquidLearner 29th Apr 2009
Why wasn't Win NT 4.0 perfect? It wasn't bad enough they Service Packed it SIX times. People need to wake up. Now we're on NT 7!!! Stop letting the man get over on us!
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seven times
rpmyers1 29th Apr 2009
6 was re-released as 6a after they toasted the network in 6.
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Isn't vista SP2 called Windows 7...
EdumacationIT 29th Apr 2009
S.E.V.E.N.

Second
Edition
Vista
Exploiting
Nerds

LOL
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-nt
Davewrite 29th Apr 2009
nt
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Vista SP2 should be Windows 7
jmattioni@... 6th May 2009
If only that were true! Instead, MS$ will want
more money from us to get to Win7.


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@Axsimulate: Didn't I tell you?
InAction Man 30th Apr 2009
why Am I not surprised?
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@InAction Man
Axsimulate 30th Apr 2009
"why Am I not surprised?"

I can tell you I'm not, and this one will get deleted as well.
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That most (practically any) serious (not joking) criticism of Microsoft is presently being deleted, or worse yet, just disappearing altogether.

Notice the blinking jumping Microsoft ad recently added to the talkbacks? Any wonder Microsoft now rules ZDNet? I'm outa here, dudes! I refuse to help support (finance) Microsoft advertisements, especially when they, in their usual fashion, squash all competition (opposition).

They will now let a few mild remarks be posted to disprove what I have posted, but one only need toss a few grains of dirt into the air to see which way the wind is blowing.

Ciou Amici
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Ole man's right
hasta la Vista, bah-bie 30th Apr 2009
I had a number of anti-Microshaft posts deleted a couple of days ago. I even posted links in them to prove my point. No personal flames, no personal attacks, they just want to live in lies.

Well no matter. I refuse to remain silent in the face of predatory monopolies.
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@Ole Man
Axsimulate Updated - 1st May 2009
"I'm outa here, dudes!"

Don't let the door hit you in the back side on your way out!
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RE: Microsoft finishes Vista SP2
erum21 30th Apr 2009
Service Pack 2,Lets see what how its going, New features, updates, etc. Microsoft should add an ISO feature, I will be glad if Microsoft add this feature so one be able to make iso or burn iso image data into cd or dvd disc.
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Agreed
Axsimulate 30th Apr 2009
"Service Pack 2,Lets see what how its going, New features, updates, etc. Microsoft should add an ISO feature, I will be glad if Microsoft add this feature so one be able to make iso or burn iso image data into cd or dvd disc."

Not only that, Windows needs built-in software to be able to use the mount the iso and use it like a regular disk drive. OS X has been able to do all of the above from the beginning.
Mary, do you remember how and when Vista SP1 was released? SP1 was RTM'ed (completed) in early February 2008 and RTW'ed (released for download) in mid-March 2008. Microsoft is NOT going to make Vista SP2 right away after they finalize it. So there's nearly a same pattern of how SP2 will be released, just like with SP1.

Please read the latest Vista Service Pack 2 Release Schedule at this Techarp.com page:
http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=604&pgno=0
According to that article, Vista SP2 is expected to be released to the public at the end of May.
And read the section from Techarp.com's Vista Service Pack 2 Release Schedule article that says the following:

"As always, do remember that when Microsoft announces that a product is RTM, it doesn't mean you will be able to download it right away. RTM merely means it is "released to manufacturing", including OEMs. Actual public release or Release to web (RTW) will occur about a month after RTM."
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RE: Microsoft finishes Vista SP2
jackson1984-24316069205748857739440257893812 10th Oct
Remarkable nfl store publish! I opt for to view a observe up on this topic??
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RE: Microsoft finishes Vista SP2
makrekwe22-24353592616043023999354151110553 Updated - 11th Nov
Impress! Critically special compromise famous the required forms in regard to Google . This example aricle is going to be on an ongoing basis magnificent. Customers may seem morph into to typically get one alarmingly specialized writer My wife and i already are rather experiencing any very first time conducting business an internet site . super bowl jerseys,sean taylor jersey,darren mcfadden jersey,roddy white jersey, This is an exceptionally any kind of crucial partner that you're dishing out because someone deliver the system unnoticed relating to without a doubt prosperous.

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