14 DAY TRIAL // Crumbs of Windows Vista SP1 are available for download a great deal of time ahead of the actual release of the Service Pack. Vista's launch in November 2006 and January 2007 left end users hungry even after serving consistent portions of the platform's Wow marketing campaign worth an estimated $500 million. As a consequence, Microsoft has started hammering away at the operating system, aiming to soften its rough edges. But with Vista SP1 in the works, the Redmond company has also begun making available bits and pieces of the service pack via Windows Update. This is also the case of the latest three Windows Vista updates.
"As you probably know and as we've mentioned in previous posts, we use Windows Update to periodically deliver updates for Windows Vista. We do this so that customers need not wait for a service pack or another or larger release to benefit from the ongoing improvements we make to Windows. With Windows Update, we can regularly service Windows as quickly, effectively and unobtrusively as possible, so that keeping your Windows OS up-to-date is easier and more convenient for you. All you have to do is make sure you are signed up to have updates installed automatically, and you're good to go. Continuous improvement is the name of this game," explained Nick White, Microsoft Product Manager.
This is neither a singular initiative from Microsoft, nor is it the first. In fact, by now, the company has evolved Vista with over 20 updates that ultimately will end up as an integer part of Service Pack 1. The move is a prefiguration of a shift in Microsoft's strategy, from the release of service packs to leveraging exclusively the Windows Update infrastructure built around the operating system. Currently, Vista SP1 is scheduled to drop in the first quarter of 2008. Here are the three updates available for download that will begin to be distributed via Windows Update later today, November 13, 2007, according to White:
"- An update on system compatibility, reliability and stability: extends the battery life for mobile devices, improves stability of wireless network services, and shortens recovery time after Windows Vista experiences a period of inactivity, among other fixes. - An update to USB core components: mainly affects systems returning from sleep or hibernation, fixing problems causing 1-2% of all crashes reported. - An update to Windows Media Center: among other things, affects interaction issues occurring between Media Center PC and Microsoft Xbox 360 when Xbox 360 is used as a Media Center Extender."