SP1 fails to fix Vista
Microsoft is readying to push Vista Service Pack 1 out to users via Windows Update. This mega-patch wraps up all preceding patches and addresses some of the most egregious faults in the original version of Vista, such as woefully slow file copying and long start up and shutdown times.
Don’t believe it! While copying times for some operations are marginally faster, SP1 appears to degrade copying performance for other operations. Under Microsoft’s test conditions copying may zip along, but in the real world Vista is still a file slouch.
Poor file copying performance has been one of the most lamented aspects of Vista, so Microsoft’s failure to provide solid, overall improvement in this area is enough to make you wonder whether Vista is just too much for Microsoft to handle. Could it be that Microsoft has reached the corporate equivalent of the Peter Principle (“In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence”)? Is Vista one operating system too far? Certainly, if Vista is fixable, Microsoft has failed to fix it, at least at its first attempt.
Still, there’s a lot of under-the-bonnet work going on with SP1. Microsoft has altered Vista’s internal workings to bring it into line with Windows Server 2008, so the two operating systems can cooperate smoothly. There’s also support for a plethora of new standards, better security for BitLocker and fixes for things which needed to be fixed. Even if there’s no glitz in SP1, you’re going to need to install it purely for its behind-the-scenes plumbing work.
For your average home or small office user, though, this is a yawn of a service pack. And if you were lured into forking out a hefty premium for the Ultimate version of Vista in the hopes that those “Ultimate Extras” would be the envy of all your friends, Microsoft has delivered yet another slap in the face. Take a look in the Welcome Center and you’ll find the Windows Ultimate Extras link is gone. Vanished. So much for the extras.
Microsoft probably wishes it could erase the embarrassment of the undelivered Extras as easily as it has erased that link.
Rose Vines
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