sp2 posts

Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Microsoft, Beta

Windows Vista SP2 beta now publicly available

by Lee Mathews Dec 5th 2008

It's December 5, 2008 and - as promised - Microsoft has made the Vista SP2 beta publicly available. Early adopters can install it now and take advantage of improvements like 10% better power saving, reduced resource consumption in sidebar gadgets, Windows Search 4, and a long list of security and bug fixes.

According to Wired's post, you should be aware that you'll have to uninstall the beta in order to install SP2 final once it's released. Currently Microsoft is anticipating doing that some time in April 2009.

If you're looking for more details before grabbing the file, check out PC World's article Vista SP2: Six Things You Need to Know.

Downloads for both 32 and 64-bit users are available at the Microsoft Download Center. Instructions are also available here for users wanting to install SP2 through Windows Update.

So far, I'm glad I ran the update. Overall my x64 Ultimate install seems a bit more responsive than before, and I've yet to encounter any annoyances. If you've upgraded, share your thoughts in the comments!

[ via Wired ]

Tags: beta, sp2, vista, windows-vista

Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Microsoft, Ask DLS, Beta

Ask DLS: Vista SP2 Beta released: Does the public care?

by Lee Mathews Dec 2nd 2008

While most people probably don't care what Microsoft does to patch or improve Windows Vista any more, Service Pack 2 is now available to Technet and MSDN subscribers and is slated for public release on December 4th.

Could SP2 actually take care of some of the irritations that have plagued other Vista users? Perhaps more importantly, does anyone really care? Vista has been taking such a beating in the media that it seems as though no one will. Prevailing sentiment seems to be that Vista should be ignored and left to die while development on Windows 7 continues.

While enhancements like Windows Search 4.0, native Blu-Ray media burning, improved wireless, and Bluetooth 2.1 support are great, I've yet to see any perception-altering features mentioned.

Personally, I've never hated Vista, and I've been able to work through or disable any of the annoyances I've encoutered (like UAC). I recently installed Ultimate x64 and I've been enjoying quite a bit. Photoshop CS4 runs like a dream, and Eset recently released a beta of my favorite internet security suite.

My Vista install is running just fine right now, but if SP2 can tweak my system's performance or squeeze a few more minutes of battery life out of my laptop, then I'm all for it.

What are your thoughts? Do you think Vista SP2 will do anything to really improve the OS, or does it stink of a last-ditch effort to "salvage" the experiment?

Tags: beta, service-pack, sp2, updates, vista

Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Beta

Microsoft to start testing Windows Vista SP2 Beta next week

by Brad Linder Oct 24th 2008

It looks like the rumors were true. Microsoft is hoping to roll out Windows Vista SP2 before Windows 7 is publicly available. How soon? We don't know for sure. But the company is delivering the first beta version of Vista SP2 to a handful of Technology Adoption Program customers on Wednesday, October 29th. Depending on how things go, we could see the beta or a final version rolled out within a few months. Or maybe it'll take longer to work out the kinks.

You won't notice any major changes to the Windows Vista interface in SP2. But there are a few under the hood changes, including integration with Windows Search 4.0, a Bluetooth 2.1 Feature Pack, native support for burning Blu-Ray discs, and support for UTC timestamps in the exFAT file system which helps synchronize files across time zones. There's also a new utility called Windows Connect Now that should simply WiFi configuration.

The same service pack will also be available for Windows Server 2008.

Tags: sp2, vista, windows-server-2008-sp2, windows-vista, windows-vista-sp2

Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Microsoft

Windows Vista SP2 will be available before Windows 7

by Brad Linder Oct 16th 2008

Windows 7 may be grabbing all the headlines these days, but that doesn't mean Microsoft has forgotten about Windows Vista. ZDNet reports that while Windows 7 is due out next year, Microsoft plans to release at least one major update for Windows Vista before launching Windows 7.

In fact, a beta version of Windows Vista SP2 may already be in the hands of some Microsoft partners. Microsoft also plans to release a service pack called SP2 for Windows Server 2008 before Windows 7 drops. If you're feeling like you must have missed something, no there was never an SP1 for Windows Server 2008. But since the OS is built on Windows Vista SP1, the first service pack will get the SP2 treatment. Not that I have any problems with the way Microsoft names things...

There's no real information at the moment about what actual changes we'll see in the service packs. In related news, the first public beta of Windows 7 could be available as soon as mid-December.

Tags: sp2, windows-7, windows-server-2008, windows-vista

Filed under: OS Updates, Security, News, Windows, Microsoft

Windows XP SP1: no more support

by Ryan Carter Oct 11th 2006

Microsoft has officially stopped supporting Windows XP SP1 as of yesterday. That means that users who want to continue to get security updates will need to install Service Pack 2 for XP, or say goodbye to security updates and stick with SP1. It isn't a huge deal either way, and we expected this right about now, since it has been two years since the release date. Service Pack 2 isn't generally a problem for most folks, so if you haven't installed it yet, you should. I can't see why anyone would really have major qualms with Service Pack 2, except perhaps the endlessly annoying security bar in Internet Explorer 6. The solution to that problem is use Firefox, um IceWeasel I guess. This is a Public Service Announcement from your friendly neighborhood Download Squad.

Tags: download, microsoft, security, sp1, sp2, support, updates, windows, xp

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