Microsoft Corp. said on Wednesday it plans to release the first major update to its Windows Vista operating system early next year.
Microsoft said the first service pack is not as significant as in the past, because the company can now send out patches and fixes to the product through online updates.
Windows Vista SP1 should, according to Microsoft, improve the operating system’s security, reliability and performance, but it will not change the product’s look or add any major features.
But, here’s the useful bit:
The company also announced plans to release the third service pack of Windows XP, Vista’s predecessor, in the next few weeks. It will be released to PC makers in the first half of 2008.
XP SP3: I’ll believe it when I see it. I hope they do, because I am getting sick of the 100+ patches needed to get fresh installs of XP SP2 updated. At the very least Microsoft needs to come out with a 2007 XP Roll-up.
good. they should of stick xp, one of their only remotely reliable products.
Doesn’t anyone notice the potential of “Vista-ized” XP via XP SP3 to mess-up those naughty users who refuse the “upgrade”? It is MS after all…
“Corporate customers often hold back on adopting new software to allow Microsoft time to work out the kinks experienced by regular consumers who often buy a new computer with the latest operating system already preloaded.”
I’d guess they’re releasing this Service Pack for the above reason and the above reason only. Vista is a bust and they’re trying to convince the corporations to finally go for it. It’s all about quarterly earnings – not “patches and fixes”.
For instance, I notice they still don’t care very much about the “patches and fixes” in SP3 for XP and I, too, will only believe it when I see it.
Like #1, I’m also tired of installing the same operating system at least twice, every time I need to install it once.
expect the XP SP3 to break a ton of stuff creating a necessity to upgrade to Vista
SP7 for WinNT4 was canceled when Win2K came out. SP5 for Win2K was canceled when SP2 for XP came out. I fully expect SP3 for XP to be canceled when SP1 for Vista is released.
SP2c for XP will be released shortly. I don’t know if it includes a patch roll-up – it’s main purpose is to add more XP keycodes into the authentication routine, since the Vista adoption rate among businesses is so slow.
Hey I thought MS was evil and was forcing everyone to upgrade to Vista. So why are they releasing an upgrade for XP?
i just want to know where Diva Village comes up with those models. Damn, makes it hard to look at anything else
#8 – Huh?
I installed a new update into XP that got downloaded last night.
All it did (or what it said it did) was fix the program to handle daylight saving time.
Typical Microsoft – only 4 months late.
If SP3 for XP screws XP up in any way, I hope to hell there is the biggest class action lawsuit is history against M$.
#11 – You can always just reinstall and apply SP2… XP is a cakewalk to control.
screw vista
There is no really compelling reason for the average person to upgrade to Vista. In many cases you can’t upgrade.
I just bought my wife a new Acer laptop with Vista loaded. When I tried to install her Scrapbooking program from Broderbund, it would not work. When I contacted Broderbund, they said it will not run on Vista, there is currently no patch to make it work, and no date or even if they were working to produce a patch. Further more, none of their other various Scrapbooking programs would work on Vista.
I had no choice but to install a pirated copy of XP so that she could use her brand new computer. And not the least thing is that all of the laptops in the Bestbuys and Circuit cities around here only had Vista and I could not find any copies of XP available for purchase.
So to buy her a new computer to use with her Scrapbooking program, I HAD to install a pirate copy of XP, which works just fine by the way.
I don’t feel bad since I purchased a valid copy of Vista which I had to delete in order to get XP loaded on short notice. I probably could have figured out how to dual boot them, but had only a few hours to get it running before she left for a Scrapbook convention. Now I have no way to put Vista back on her system since I accidently deleted the service partition when I was installing XP, oops.
Oh well.
Don
#6 “I fully expect SP3 for XP to be canceled when SP1 for Vista is released”
Maybe not, I think the Vista sp1 is normal update from real world feedback not possible through BETA testing. As far as this cancelling WinXP sp3? Maybe, it might be in the form of a Roll Up as was brought up.
Windows 2000 had ‘Roll Up 1′ which is the final release of Windows 2000 Sp4. Win2000 is supported through to 2010 so if that can be used as a metre stick WinXP should be supported to at least 2013.
http://tinyurl.com/86v3n
Anyway WinXP Sp3 or Roll Up would make life easier when doing an install, perhaps it will also incorporate DX10 for all the gamers out there? 😀
#7 No Addle is also an ‘evil empire’.
#14 You can ask Acer for a re-image disc set for Vista. The licence for Vista is not valid for WinXP. Its like having motorcycle registration so you don’t need one for your car – you do.
#15 The activation ‘crap’ was created by pirated copies too easy for non-geeks to use. See comment #14 Also think about 70-80% of Chinese users with pirated copies.
I hear so much whining about this as people think that having Windows or software on their computer is a constitutional right – its not. You need to pay for it – period. If you don’t like paying for it use Linux but don’t whine about it doesn’t run all the software you have yadda yadda yadda.
Similar to having a drivers license, it is a privilege not a right – don’t bitch if you are caught with a ‘pirated’ one. If you don’t like following the rules of driving then ride a bus.
If you had a company and people pirated your products you mean wouldn’t have a right royal bitch as well? Oh that’s different.
Like if or not it is for that reason.
Before the wide spread use of the Internet for file sharing piracy was restricted to discs borrowed, copied or bought from another country. Sure piracy always existed but not free flowing “ON TAP” courtesy of the Internet.
This issue with the iPhone is a good example. Apple and AT&T have a contract but people think it is their right to hack the iPhone for use with other carriers. The courts will determine if this is wrong or not. If people DID NOT stand in lines for days to buy the damn thing then Apple would HAVE to reconsider their position with AT&T. Let the iPhone flop and see how quick Apple does a back flip. But as SNL John Belushi would say “But NOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooo!”
Cheers
By the way here is more information regarding the MS WGA
failure. It seems that it was not a server outage as so wildly reported but was functioning incorrectly due to human error.
http://tinyurl.com/26c7f4
According to the article from Art Technica the WGA failure was down for about 30 minutes caused by human error and not by ‘server outage’ and about 12,000 systems were affected.
Kochis (Microsoft) says that it’s wrong to call this failure an “outage” because the servers were not down; they were just functioning incorrectly. Kochis says that were the servers completely down, clients would not have been misidentified as having pirated software.
Makes sense to me… 😉
Will DU have an update on this?
Cheers
me thinks maybe SP3 will be a test for some new kind of WGA protocol.. i speculate this only because after 4 years MS suddenly sent a cease and decist order to autopatcher.com. -my favorite place to get easy-to-install updates for XP.
i imagine any changes to the patching routine would be quickly found out by the Autopatcher crew.
*shrug* -my 2¢
“The failure was caused when “preproduction code” was sent to the production WGA servers.”
On top of everything else, Micro$oft as a company admits it isn’t smart enough to have effective Change Controls in place.
It is incomprehensible they could be that stupid, so they must be lying.
#20 You’re not serious, are you? People make mistakes – its a fact of life, they admitted it and will fix it…BFD. But because it was Microsoft they are measured to a higher standard then the one true faith.
If I was Bill Gates I would have said “Piss on all of you – I made enough” and shut it all down and let Addle take over and let the real bitching begin as time stands still with computers…. LOL
Like it or not, Microsoft spurned on growth on so many levels. Addle was there at the beginning but they took another path – too bad for them it was a wrong one so now they have to play catch up. Funny thing is OS X isn’t even Addle – it’s NeXT Step and they bought if from Jobs who developed it after he was fired – Jobs was going to take down Addle with NeXT STEP!! LOL Yeah, the one true faith alright…
Cheers
#21 – TIHZ_HO
“People make mistakes – its a fact of life, they admitted it and will fix it…BFD. But because it was Microsoft they are measured to a higher standard then the one true faith.”
A computer shop establishes formal Change Controls because people make mistakes. That’s the whole point of them! I audited hundreds of lesser shops than Micro$oft (and some larger) and all of them had Change Controls because otherwise, things like this happen and things like this cost companies millions of dollars.
I don’t really follow the Apple part of your post. Although I’ve occasionally been forced to use one, I’ve never owned an Apple, never wanted to. I think Apple, as a company, is stupid and greedy and historically, they almost bankrupted themselves because of those corporate shortcomings.
I don’t like proprietary anything. I use Ubuntu Linux exclusively and I only switched from SUSE when Novell got into bed with Micro$oft. I don’t own a single thing that says Micro$oft or Apple on it. I’m neutral in that particular fight. I dislike them both equally.