Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Friday, 15 February 2008 20:29
Opinion and Analysis
Page 1 of 3
Following an almighty uproar from the tech savvy MSDN and TechNet
subscriber base over the fact they were going to have to wait just as
long as the general public before being able to get their hands on
Vista SP1, MSDN and TechNet users can finally download the long awaited
update code.
The saga of Windows Vista SP1 has proven to be almost as torturous as the release of Vista itself, no doubt cementing into the minds of some that Microsoft is losing its edge, despite rather incredible advances like their iPhone-esque ‘Surface PC’ released last year.
But while some may hold that opinion, the truth is that creating software to reliably run on zillions of different configurations just isn’t an easy task, requiring lots of money, lots of programmers, lots of time and lots of testing.
After all, even Mac OS X 10.5 has already gone through at least two updates to solve all manner of problems, even some giving early OS X 10.5 adopters a decidedly Microsoft-like ‘blue screen of death’ that required an update to banish – and this is despite Apple’s far smaller range of computers, all of which they themselves design and know inside out.
When SP1 first went to RTM status last week, many thought the update would be instantly available. But instead, the re-installation of some drivers during the SP1 process uncovered some
last minute bugs that could cause some Vista machines to stop working, needing to be booted up from a Vista DVD and system restored to function again, as reported by
Heise Online.
Unfortunately, these driver issues were very badly explained by Microsoft, and it saw their championed developer and IT professional base feel incredibly slighted. Why, they demanded to know, were they being forced to wait as long as the general public to download the drivers?
After all, some developers and technology professionals had been banking on a February release to fast track the rollout of Vista machines across the enterprise or their workplaces, and the unforeseen delay had thrown a major wrench into the plans of many.
So, did the SP1 driver problems affect everyone - and where can SP1 now be downloaded from? Please read onto page 2.
