If Vista SP1 is done, why can't you download it?

Stephen Withers
Tuesday, 05 February 2008 00:16

Opinion and Analysis

And since SP1 is supposed to cure various ills affecting performance and reliability, there are probably a lot of individuals and small businesses that would be prepared to run the risk of having to reinstall a driver or two if that meant getting the benefits of SP1 today.

Even though we're supposedly talking about a small number of drivers, customers will have to do without SP1 for another month.

In mid April, SP1 will start being automatically delivered via Windows Update providing the destination computer doesn't have any of these driver issues. SP1-compatible versions of those problematic drivers will also be delivered through Windows Update, and once the drivers on a particular system are all 'known good', SP1 will be installed.

So why not go straight into that phase? I can understand waiting a few weeks before making SP1 an automatic download, if only to give admins one last chance to disable that action if they choose, but otherwise I don't see why systems that are ready with SP1-compatible drivers should be denied the update for another month.

Even if we leave Windows Update out of the discussion, it just does not seem sensible to prevent those who like to live on the bleeding edge from downloading SP1 immediately. The sooner those pioneers start using it, the sooner typical users will feel confident about installing the service pack.