Vista Service Pack 1 has been making its way across the Internet and into homes for a few months now, and Dell is currently shipping it on Vista systems worldwide (for systems using English, French, German, Japanese and Spanish languages with additional languages expected to ship as they become available in the future). However, for users who are already running Vista but have yet to install this update, the question on their minds is: should I install Service Pack 1?
Unlike the hotfix updates that Microsoft regularly puts out, service packs tend to be much more comprehensive and tend to include not only patches to fix existing problems, but new features and enhancements. The first Service Pack for Vista lives up to this expectation, but most of the changes are subtle enough to go unnoticed by the average user.
So what exactly is in Vista Service Pack 1? It’s a long list, but I like what blogger David Kirk says is the “only” feature that SP1 adds. Beyond that, let’s take a look at why now may be the right time to jump on the SP1 bandwagon:
Stability – SP1 contains all of the hotfixes released since Vista was launched, as well as better driver support for the hardware and software that most people use. Reports coming in from early adopters suggest that the days of frequent freezes and crashes appear to be over.
Performance – The speed at which you copy files, whether it is from one system to another or just on a single system, should see a significant boost. If you have a large media collection or do frequent backups, this is great news. Users who have to work with large image files, such as the kind most of us download from our digital cameras, will notice that they display much faster than before.
Gaming Performance - ExtremeTech has a great write-up comparing SP1 to Vista with just the pre-SP1 hotfixes installed. While 3D performance appears to have improved slightly, 2D performance increases are much stronger. Even this slight increase combined with improved stability should appeal to those using Vista on their gaming rig.
Compatibility – Not specific to SP1, but worth noting: in the time since Vista was released, many companies have been working hard to bring their products in line with the new operating system. The list of compatible software applications and driver support for peripherals such as printers has grown tremendously. A great source for finding out if the applications that you need run on Vista can be found here, courtesy of Microsoft.
For those who have been waiting to see how Service Pack 1 would fare on the systems of early adopters, the waters seem to be fine. This is not the wild slew of changes that we saw in Windows XP when Service Pack 2 was released, but the fairly extensive set of changes to Vista should provide a smoother, more consistent feel to the user experience. When an operating system works best, you should forget that it is even there and SP1 does a good job at staying out of sight and out of your way. If you are waiting for the right time to install it, that time may be right now.
The easiest way to install SP1 is to turn on Automatic Updates but for those of you that would prefer to download SP1 separately, here is a link.
While Dell provides support for the operating system as it originally shipped with your machine, Microsoft is providing installation and compatibility support for Service Pack 1 until March 18, 2009, and this page should provide you with a way to receive it. We’ve also compiled a list of common errors that people have encountered through installing SP1 for Vista and information on how to resolve them.
June 9th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Does your statement that “Dell is currently shipping it on Vista systems worldwide” mean that Dell is pre-installing SP1 on ALL Vista systems? Your product websites are inconsistent and confusing; some say SP1, others — such as XPS One, for which I’m waiting — don’t.
Thx.
June 9th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
@navigator717
All Vista systems shipping in English, French, German, Japanese and Spanish languages are now shipping with SP1 preinstalled- with the exception of the XPS One. Because the XPS One is manufactured using a process that is distinct from our other systems, updating the operating system configuration is not practical.
Sorry about the confusion- but thank you for the great question!
June 9th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
This is puzzling. Surely you’re not saying that Dell has one manufacturing line that is un-updatable. Is XPS One to be forever marooned with an old operating system — a second-class citizen of your product line? Is it being discontinued, and thus not worth updating?
June 10th, 2008 at 6:54 am
@navigator717
Not at all- to say that the XPS One is “marooned with an old operating system” doesn’t seem accurate since it is shipping with Vista, which is the “newest” Windows based operating system available. Service Pack 1 is merely an addition to that operating system, and XPS One owners (and future owners) can easily update to Service Pack 1 using the steps listed in the main blog post.
June 10th, 2008 at 9:36 am
I’m still puzzled. If owners can easily update to SP1, why can’t Dell easily update before shipping?
I’m not trying to be a pain; I’m just concerned because of the many “horror stories” in the blogs about updating.
June 10th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
@navigator717
Unfortunately, it’s just not that simple to change the XPS One manufacturing process. Rest assured that the update should go smoothly with the XPS One, as you can see in reports here:
http://ptech.allthingsd.com/20080214/big-update-for-vista-leaves-little-changed-for-mainstream-users/
and here:
http://gizmodo.com/370310/question-of-the-day-hows-sp1-working-out-for-you
…and that Microsoft has a team at the ready to help (check the end of my original post above for the link) with any compatibility issues you may have. Customers who purchase a new XPS should see SP1 install the first time they run Automatic Updates- which is generally a good thing to do with any new system purchase.
June 13th, 2008 at 10:25 am
I took your advice, bought the XPS One, and did the SP1 installation via Windows Update.
There were minor glitches — three “Download Failed” messages that really meant “Download stopped for no apparent reason” ; clicking “Try Again” continued the download. But no major problems.
Although I would’ve been happier if Dell had done this for me, I do now have a great-looking new machine that’s successfully running SP1. Thanks for your help.
June 16th, 2008 at 9:06 am
@navigator717
I’m happy that I was able to help, and I hope you enjoy your XPS One! I’m a bit jealous- all I got for Father’s Day was a coffee mug.