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New Vista fix packs provide updates promised for SP1

By Mary Jo Foley | July 30, 2007, 6:29am PDT

Summary

Microsoft has rolled out to select testers two new Windows Vista fix packs that deliver many of the same updates expected to be provided by Vista Service Pack (SP) 1. Here’s what Microsoft told testers earlier this month to expect in Vista SP1. Compare that to what’s in the new Vista fix packs. Very, very similar.

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Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Corp., Mary Jo Foley

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Mary-Jo Foley

Biography

Mary-Jo Foley

Mary-Jo Foley

Mary Jo Foley has covered the tech industry for 20 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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Microsoft has rolled out to select testers two new Windows Vista fix packs that deliver many of the same updates expected to be provided by Vista Service Pack (SP) 1.

(Note: The original posting listing the fixes has been pulled by AeroXP, with no explanation given. So if you need the list of Vista hotfixes provided, go here. )

The fix packs (detailed in Knowledge Base articles 938194 and 938979) were made available to Windows Server 2008 testers on July 29 earlier this month. The packs provide a number of performance and reliability improvements to Vista, testers said. Among the new Vista fixes are patches for speeding up Vista’s hibernate/sleep/resume performance; improving file copy/transfer capabilities; and enhancing Vista memory management, all of which are set to be part of Vista SP1, testers said earlier this month.

I’m wondering whether these two fix packs are just another name for what Microsoft has been calling the Vista SP1 private beta/preview. In spite of Microsoft’s best efforts to quash talk of its plans for Windows Vista SP 1 — while simultaneously confirming its 2010 target ship date for Windows 7 — the Windows team did tell certain testers to expect a private beta of SP1 the week of July 16th or possibly a week later (the week of July 23, which was last week).

“SP1 Beta is projected for release to influencers … either the week of the 16th or the following week, depending on how things proceed. The public Beta will follow shortly thereafter,” according to a note Microsoft provided to testers it was considering adding to the Vista SP1 beta program.

Some other factoids from the note that went to certain testers earlier this month — a copy of which I recently had a chance to see:

Q: What is in Windows Vista SP1?

A: “Windows Vista SP1 is an update to Windows Vista that, along with improvements delivered to users via Windows Update, addresses feedback from our customers. In addition to previously released updates, SP1 will contain changes focused on addressing specific reliability and performance issues, supporting new types of hardware, and adding support for several emerging standards.”

Q: What is not in Windows Vista SP1?

A: “SP1 is not intended to be a vehicle for releasing new features; however some existing components do gain enhanced functionality in SP1. ”

Q: How big is SP1?

A: “Windows Vista SP1 is approximately 45 MB when delivered over Windows Update and is designed to not significantly change the UI or regress application compatibility.”

Q: What are some examples of “improved security and quality?”

A: “SP1 delivers improvements that target what we’ve found to be the most common causes of crashes and hangs, giving users a more reliable experience. SP1 also improves upon performance in key scenarios, such as copying files and shutdown time.

“Beyond improvements to the basics,SP1 addresses other areas where we have received feedback. For example, SP1 improves the success of peer-to-peer connections, such as Windows MeetingSpace or Remote Assistance, when both PCs are behind symmetric firewalls. It also gives vendors of security software a more secure way to communicate with Windows Security Center.”

Q: What are some examples of “support for emerging technologies and standards?”

A: “With SP1, Windows Vista can boot via EFI (Extensible Firmware Interface) on an x64 machine. SP1 supports ExFAT, a new file format that will be used in flash memory storage and consumer devices Support for SD Advanced DMA Support to improve transfer performance and decrease CPU utilization is part of SP1.”

Q: What are some examples of “improving the management experience?”

A: “SP1 improves the administration experience. For example: With Windows Vista SP1, BitLocker Drive Encryption has been enhanced to not only fully encrypt the entire Windows Vista volume but also any or all additional locally created data volumes. (Customers can now not only fully encrypt C: but also D: and E. Network Diagnostics in Windows Vista SP1 will help users with the most common file sharing problems, in addition to basic problems already supported.”

If Microsoft stuck to its timetable, certain testers should have received latest SP1 beta bits. Perhaps the two new Vista fix packs are simply the private SP1 beta in sheep’s clothing? All I do know is, based on the note above, a public beta of Vista SP1 should be coming soon. And the final? I still hear November 2007, not 2009. (Microsoft still won’t confirm or deny either the November or the 2009 dates.)

Anyone tried out the new fix packs yet? What’s your verdict?

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. I have not accepted any consulting funds from Microsoft, any of its partners or its competitors for any studies/projects.

Biography

Mary-Jo Foley

Mary Jo Foley has covered the tech industry for 20 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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Talkback Most Recent of 40 Talkback(s)

  • Sounds like a band-aid on a gapping wound
    I'm not impressed. It is hard to avoid the impression that Microsoft just doesn't get it.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Michael Of Atlanta
    07/30/2007 06:36 AM
  • Band-aid?
    You can predict this before it's released and form an impression. Hmmm.


    As for any gapping holes, care to elaborate?
    ZDNet Gravatar
    xuniL_z
    07/30/2007 08:03 AM
  • this got my attention
    "adding support for several emerging standards."
    Is M$ still up for the old tricks?
    Is DOJ watching?
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Linux Geek
    07/30/2007 07:14 AM
  • Please clarify
    What does "Is M$ stil up for the old tricks?" mean? Who is M$?

    "Is DOJ watching?" Who is DOJ? Why would s/he be watching?
    ZDNet Gravatar
    xuniL_z
    07/30/2007 09:06 AM
  • And why would that be?
    Very clever with the dollar sign there...

    Why would Microsoft not add support for emerging standards? As new versions of HTML or CSS or RSS or MPEG or any other standards are released by the community, of COURSE Microsoft builds support into the Operating System. What does DOJ have to do with this?

    Does your Linux distro support HTML or MP3s? Then that means that Novell and Red Hat and Ubuntu have been "adding support for several emerging standards." Chill with the fanboyism...
    ZDNet Gravatar
    smearp
    07/30/2007 09:37 AM
  • Wrong Date of patches
    I work for AeroXp as a news-reporter and was the first one to post about this piece of news. I would just like to point out that these updates were released by Microsoft on 20th July 2007 and not 29th, maybe you should credit the orignal source wink
    ZDNet Gravatar
    princek
    07/30/2007 07:29 AM
  • I certainly can elaborate...
    I saw nothing in there about the chronic issue with PnP. With so many peripherals going to USB and PnP, this, at least in my opinion, is a huge issue. I talked to Dell support this weekend about the issue, and their resolution was to reinstall XP.

    I've been on this soap box a long time, and have pretty much given up. But, to me, at least, if an OS cannot predictably support the primary interface of peripherals, it is deeply flawed.

    I do not intend to debate this. I have no ax to grind.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Michael Of Atlanta
    07/30/2007 08:11 AM
  • You prefer the blame game to axes, I see
    I see you prefer the blame game to grinding axes. It's all Microsoft's fault - It can't be the fault of the vendors for bad drivers.

    Seriously, I'm pretty sure it's not Microsoft's code to blame - my USB devices seem to work fine. I'm pretty sure it's the fault of the vendors and their drivers.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    CobraA1
    07/31/2007 12:21 AM
  • Right, how could anyone blame Microsoft?
    For producing an operating system to operate
    a computer just because it won't operate a
    computer like it's supposed to operate a
    computer? Is it their fault that it won't do
    everything they promised and advertised?
    Could it be their fault the operating system
    doesn't operate USB drives and other
    components just because they're a part of
    the computer?

    Of course not! It's the whole world's fault.
    Everyone knows that everybody everywhere
    that produces anything is supposed to make
    all their products work with whatever the
    masters of the universe, Microsoft,
    produces.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Ole Man
    07/31/2007 11:16 AM
  • As a side note
    Instead of calling Vista an "Operating
    System", shouldn't they call it an "Operater
    Of Whatever Parts The Producers Have
    Modified To Work With It"?

    Wouldn't that be more like Truth In
    Advertising than deceiving the public for
    profit? (commonly called extortion)
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Ole Man
    07/31/2007 11:23 AM

  • ZDNet Blogger

    Dates for fix packs
    Thanks.I fixed. I did credit AeroXP for the info on the new packs by linking to the site.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Mary Jo Foley
    07/30/2007 08:12 AM
  • Will they fix backup?
    Am I missing something or is it not possible to backup C:\Program Files\NameOfProgram\aFile.mdb
    I'm so far unable to do it in Vista or Windows OneCare 2.0.
    Will SP1 fix it?
    ZDNet Gravatar
    PajamaGuy
    07/30/2007 08:23 AM
  • Fix Packs vs SP1
    I had always thought SP1 would come out in 2008 with the Vista/Server2008 kernel refresh and also a Media Center update. I don't understand what the blogging frenzy around SP1 is all about.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    USArcher
    07/30/2007 10:55 AM
  • Monthly Windows Vista QFE Testing
    Whether these two update packs are the genesis of SP1 or simply future Windows Update pushes, it's great news that MS is externally testing hotfixes (the Vista hotfixes are the QFE Vista Monthly Drop). This is something I wish they'd done a long time ago, particularly since Patch Tuesday almost regularly gets ugly with at least one errant patch a month, sometimes over the most basic of things.

    I'm assuming that testers will filter out the worst of the problems before they're later passed onto Windows Update.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    rseiler
    07/30/2007 11:36 AM
  • AMEN, Brother!
    um, what he said...
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Michael Of Atlanta
    07/30/2007 12:29 PM
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