Microsoft released Service Pack 1 for Vista on Monday so I thought I’d give it a spin. It will be rolled out through Windows Update over the course of the next month. If you are impatient, you can downloaded the pack directly from their website (32-bit / 64-bit). There are a number of drivers that are incompatible with SP1 so Windows Update will wait until those incompatibilities are resolved before showing you the update. If you chose to install yourself be sure to read up on the current issues before you do it. There is also a short list of incompatible programs to be wary of.
The most notable changes seem to be better and faster file copying, DirectX 10.1, exFAT support for large Flash drives, fewer UAC prompts, and a host of security improvements. There are literally hundreds of changes added to Vista in SP1 so grab the Notable Changes white paper and give it a read.
My update went smoothly. It took about an hour, maybe 45 minutes, and rebooted a couple of times. I grabbed the stand alone installer from the Microsoft website because WU hadn’t offered it up to me yet and I’m terribly impatient. I don’t recommend doing that though, unless you are fully prepared for potential problems. I’ve read about a few horror stories online already, but I’m not sure how much merit they have. For what it’s worth, it’s been smooth sailing over here and I’m enjoying a slightly more responsive Vista.
