It's high time for a little Windows Vista Service Pack 1 vs. Windows Vista vs. Windows XP SP2. The reason? Why, nothing more than the fact that Microsoft has released Vista SP1 to manufacturing on February 4, 2008. Previous comparisons involving beta versions of Vista SP1 and XP SP3 were little flattering for the latest Windows client, plus the service pack. But at the same time, Microsoft dismissed the relevance of the performance comparisons between the products at various stages of Beta development, specifically because of the fact that both service packs were still in development. But with Vista SP1 having RTM'd at the start of the month, the Redmond company commissioned a comparative study of the responsiveness of Vista, Vista SP1 and XP SP3 on common business and home tasks.

"Principled Technologies concluded the following when comparing business scenarios: overall, Windows Vista SP1 and Windows XP performed comparably on most test operations. Performance differences between the two operating systems were typically less than a half second. Significant differences of over a second occurred on only nine of 128 measures; Windows Vista SP1 led on eight of those. Windows Vista SP1 was noticeably more responsive after rebooting than Windows XP on several common business operations. Overall, Windows Vista SP1 was more responsive than Windows Vista on most comparisons. Performance differences between the two operating systems were typically less than a quarter second," stated Nick White, Windows Vista Product Manager, citing the conclusions of Principled Technologies.

The responsiveness tests involved no less than five systems involving Dell XPS 600 (desktop), Dell XPS M170 (notebook), HP a1320y (desktop), HP d4100e (desktop), and Toshiba Tecra M4 (tablet), according to Principled Technologies. Vista RTM, Vista SP1 and XP SP2 were compared in terms of both home and business tasks, from rebooting to waking up from standby an in operation.

"Principled Technologies also concluded the following when comparing home scenarios: overall, Windows Vista SP1 and Windows XP performed comparably on most test operations. Differences were typically less than a half second. Windows Vista SP1 was noticeably more responsive after rebooting than Windows XP on several common home operations. Overall, Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Vista performed comparably on most test operations, with differences typically less than a half second," White added.