Vista Service Pack One Released

By Greg McNevin

March 20, 2008: After months of anticipation, Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is finally out, however, true to form since the OS’s release it was not all smooth sailing.

SP1 bundles together a host of security updates, support for new hardware and according to Microsoft, upwards of 2,000 applications are now ‘certified’ to work with Vista.

Unfortunately, it appears that compatibility issues still exist, with security applications such as Zone Alarm Security Suite not running correctly or at all on updated machines. According to Microsoft, other applications may also suffer loss of functionality.

On the performance side, Microsoft is promising some hefty speed increases, including faster file transfers and searches, faster image loading and network browsing, and speedier network browsing.

It has also included a range of software updates, including security tweaks for its BitLocker drive encryption service, and single sign-on when connecting and authenticating on wired networks – very handy indeed for enterprise users.

The update is available for download now from Microsoft’s site, otherwise it will be available from the company’s automated Windows Update service in the near future.

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