DLS Poll: What do you think of Vista SP1 so far?

Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Microsoft

DLS Poll: What do you think of Vista SP1 so far?

by Brad Linder Mar 19th 2008

It's been about a day since Microsoft officially released Windows Vista SP1. And after uninstalling the SP1 release candidate and running Windows Update a few dozen times, we've finally got it up and running on our test system. The good news is that our test PC does seem to be a bit more stable. The bad news, well, not really bad, but other news is that as we knew all along there aren't any real new bells and whistles in this release, which means that SP1 is kind of unsexy as far as service packs go.

But enough about us. What we really want to know is what your experiences with Vista SP1 have been like.

Feel free to leave more details in the comments section.

Tags: poll, vista, vista-sp1

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Bill said 11:07AM on 3-19-2008

for some reason 4od doesn't work anymore! Something to do with the DRM perhaps?

Skapig said 11:29AM on 3-19-2008

It does seem a bit zippier. The start menu and explorer have lost the slight lag that they had pre-SP1.

So far it seems to be a very solid service pack. The installation was a breeze and took somewhere between 20-30 mins. No issues to report as of yet, but this is still day 1 and I haven't exactly taxed the system at this point.

Not a huge difference, but then again there shouldn't be for a system that has been kept up to date. Most of the improvements are to minor things behind the scenes along with hardware compatability fixes.

EP said 11:48AM on 3-19-2008

Well...

My bluetooth devices no long show up and I can no longer add a new device (previously installed BT devices still work however...).

Also, Aero no longer works, so I have this really aweful Windows 2000 look to my Vista :(

As far as speed goes... my startup time went from 30 seconds to 1.5 minutes :( :( :( :(

ross said 2:30PM on 3-19-2008

I have had this problem as well. it made some drastic UI changes for me that are obviously unintended, and destroyed my windows preferences (for example, no more background, no more desktop icons, no more startup programs).

andylsu said 11:51AM on 3-19-2008

I can finally see all 4gb of RAM I have installed

Bakk said 1:27PM on 3-19-2008

No you dont. Microsoft just made it so it now vista lies to you. Your computer is using the exact same amount of ram as before SP1(~3-3.5GB's of it). Great job of pulling the blanket over customers eyes Microsoft!

Xeno said 8:24PM on 3-19-2008

he has a point no ram has 100% of (x)gb

ALEX said 11:59AM on 3-19-2008

Updated last night start up seem a little slow at first
and when I went into IE7 it wasn't working, So I restarted
my computer which seem solve the issue, Otherwise havn't
found any other problem I still like window vista better than
window xp.

Ryanjason said 12:11PM on 3-19-2008

I was wondering if anyone else was having any issues with windows media player. Videos seem to keep freezing until I restart my system. Its pretty annoying...

Bill said 1:30PM on 3-19-2008

yep. bbc iplayer and 4od both us wmplayer, that was what was wrong with with me earlier. I had to reload the media library (by clicking add to library) and then i restarted the computer. Works fine now. and its a little faster too.

Paul said 1:29PM on 3-19-2008

The first thing I tested is transferring files to my other computer wirelessly.

Before, Vista took a while to begin the transfer. Now it starts immediately.

This is huge!!! because I transfer a lot of files back and forth.

The second thing I tested is transferring pictures from my CF reader. I noticed a slight improvement. I'll take any improvement since I shoot in RAW.

The last thing I tested still doesn't work. I can't use my HP C5180 scanning capabilities unless I uninstall my Wacom driver. Fortunately, I don't need to scan all that often, but when I do I can use my other computer, but I shouldn't have to.

kojo87 said 1:37PM on 3-19-2008

i can't pass judgment yet because i can't flipping install it!! it always ways unable to install, reverting changes. lameness

cjmjcrlm said 3:26PM on 3-19-2008

My biggest complaints prior to SP1 were file transfers were either very slow or non-responsive and zip file extraction took forever. Both problems have been resolved with SP1. The computer seems to be responding very well. I've been holding out on SP1 before making the final decision to go back to XP. I'm glad I waited.

Xeno said 3:29PM on 3-19-2008

I can't connect to the internet after I installed the SP. WHAT THE HELLS WITH THAT!

Nayf said 8:12PM on 3-19-2008

Seems good so far, I had a slight issue with WMP, iTunes and the Last.Fm player not being able to play (something to do with audio drivers, I was told) but a little fiddling with the settings did the trick!

PeskyEskie said 8:30PM on 3-19-2008

I have for the last year, read with some reservation, all the negativity about Vista, Sp1 and IE8. I didn't have much luck with IE8 Beta, but I failed to read the issues, otherwise I would have know it would not work with SP1 RC1 Refresh 1 and 2. That was my ignorence. I got Vista when the only way I could get it was to buy a PC with a promise of an express upgrade. I was some worried reading all the horror stories of people that were not able to get the upgrades. Min came as promised and installed without a hitch and has been working flawlessly since. I did have to ask HP for the updated drivers for my 4100 all-in-one, but that came off without a hitch too. I installed SP1 Beta as soon as I could and the refreshes too. Being some what computer illiterate, the only thing I can think of why I never experienced any of the horror that I read about was because I "HAD" to read all the instructions and not just take for granted that I know all there was to know. I didn't read the part about I'll let you know in 17 hours until after I had already downloaded it in 45 min. Again I have to wonder what is behind all the negativity? Are all these so called gurus simply pushing the download button with out reading known issues and getting mad, or do they have some sort of monitary carrot dangling in front of them pushing them ever onward. Again, I am not computer savey enough to help anyone with their problems, but a lot of the issues people are having have been explained in the in the "please read this befor downloading"!

Mysterius said 7:39AM on 3-20-2008

Someone who actually reads instructions?! *shock*
;)

Kevin said 7:40AM on 3-20-2008

I wish I could install it. Both of my computers are not worthy of the upgrade due to the crap audio that is in them. I am buying a real audio card for the desktop tomorrow so that i can join in all the fun, maybe I'll just sell the laptop (thanks HP).

whiskey said 7:42AM on 3-20-2008

All i can say is ... Remember XP SP1?

I will install it on my Vista Virtual Box (thank VirtualBox) once i hear all the sides to this story (or get the facts about security flaws and such), in say... a week or so?

Greg said 7:56AM on 3-20-2008

Installed SP1 yesterday, it took about an hour from start of D/L to finish installing with no problems. But as yet can't tell if it's made any difference to speed or reliability of my laptop as both were fine beforehand anyway.

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