Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Beta Opens Up
January 16th, 2008 (4:00pm) Samuel Dean 1 Comment
Are you a Windows Vista user? If so, Microsoft has opened its beta release of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) up for the public to download, following several months of private beta testing. You can download it now at Microsoft’s site.
As has been true of previous Service Packs for Windows, Vista SP1 is focused on fixing bugs, improving performance, and other under-the-hood enhancements. Installing the Service Packs as they are released has become a widespread practice, and Microsoft’s Service Packs for Windows XP have been notable for fixing many security problems in the operating system. However, it is worth noting that Vista SP1 is still pre-release software, and you will want to evaluate some issues pertaining to how you install it.
Note that if you are going to download and install Vista SP1, you can choose either of two ways to do so. You can install it using an Automatic Update process (listed as Method 1 at the link above), or to install it as fast as possible you can perform a manual installation using Windows Update (listed as Method 2). If you choose the Automatic Update process, your complete installation will actually take several days, because prerequisites for the Service Pack and the components themselves will be added incrementally, not in one download and install process.
Windows Vista is available in several versions. These are the supported versions for Vista SP1: Windows Vista; Windows Vista Business 64-bit edition; Windows Vista Enterprise 64-bit edition; Windows Vista Home Basic 64-bit edition; Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit edition; and Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit edition.
If you want more enhancements for Windows Vista, you may want to download Tweak VI from TotalIdea software, which can automatically provide performance and efficiency improvements. Also, the Tweakguides Tweaking Companion for Windows Vista makes it easy to customize many aspects of the operating system.
Do you have any good tips on how to enhance and customize Vista?
1 Comment Post your own comment
Al Jensen says: February 21st, 2008 9:06am
My Toshiba notebook with Vista home premium has an odd glitch which took a while to figure out but here it is:
Sometimes when I’d close the lid & let the machine go into sleep mode, I’d open it back up to continue working but the screen would remain black. No amount of fiddling would bring it back. It was as if the machine had completely hung. I eventually realized this was being caused by the simple sequence of unplugging the USB mouse after closing the lid. If I simply unplug it before closing the lid the problem never recurres.
Just a tidbit for those other Vista users cutting their teeth too.