Forget Vista SP1, Microsoft Made an Alternative for Download

Forget about Windows Vista Service Pack 1. Even though the first service pack for the latest Windows client was made available to the general public just two months ago, it is already old news. Moreover, Microsoft has alternatives in place designed as a veritable plan B to Vista SP1. Throughout 2007, the Redmond company continued to emphasize the fact that service packs are by no means the sole method of evolution for the Windows operating system, shifting a portion of the focus onto the Windows Update infrastructure. In this context, it is only fit that Windows Update provide the alternative to Windows Vista Service Pack 1.

Essentially, instead of Vista SP1, Microsoft is offering a performance and reliability update for the platform. "If for some reason you have not been able to upgrade to Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1), an update is available from the Microsoft Download Center that might improve the performance and reliability of Windows Vista. If you are already running Windows Vista SP1, you should not download this update. The fixes that are included in this update are already included in Windows Vista SP1", reads the description of the update as provided by Microsoft.

The update offered is the KB938979 package for 32-bit and 64-bit Vista RTM platforms. This item is bound to be familiar to Vista users, as Microsoft has served the update in 2007, well ahead of the release of the service pack for the latest Windows client. At that time, the Redmond company had made available two updates which contained bits and pieces of Windows Vista SP1. KB938979 and KB938194 served to resolve common compatibility, performance and reliability problems impacting Vista RTM. The documentation associated with KB938979 was overhauled in order to reflect the release of Vista SP1, but the binaries of the update are the same.

According to Microsoft:

"This update resolves the following issues on a Windows Vista-based computer:
• You experience a long delay when you try to exit the Photos screen saver.
• A memory leak occurs when you use the Windows Energy screen saver.
• If User Account Control is disabled on the computer, you cannot install a network printer successfully.
• When you write data to an AVI file by using the AVIStreamWrite function, the file header of the AVI file is corrupted.
• When you copy or move a large file, the "estimated time remaining" takes a long time to be calculated and displayed.
• After you resume the computer from hibernation, it takes a long time to display the logon screen.
• When you synchronize an offline file to a server, the offline file is corrupted.
• If you edit an image file that uses the RAW image format, data loss occurs in the image file. This problem occurs if the RAW image is from any of the following digital SLR camera models: Canon EOS 1D and Canon EOS 1DS
• After you resume the computer from hibernation, the computer loses its default gateway address.
• Poor memory management performance occurs."


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