Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Wednesday, 19 March 2008 20:43
Opinion and Analysis
Page 2 of 4
The remaining driver issues that are being experienced
surely can’t be as insignificant as WinSuperSite’s Paul Thurrott claims
in
his article
stating SP1 is ready to download for some users. If they were, I’d be
able to download SP1 right now through Windows Update. I also quote
some of Thurrott's reasoning on pages 3 and 4, and explain why I don't
buy it!
So, what did Windows Vista Team Blogger Nick White have to say about the
driver issue in his announcement that SP1 was finally available?
White explained at the blog that: “Back in February we announced that
we'd be using Windows Update to help make the update as seamless as
possible for our users. Windows Update will detect drivers that we know
may be problematic when updating to SP1 and will not offer the service
pack until an update has been installed.”
White continues that: “I've received a lot of requests for more detail
about the driver situation this last month, so I want to share some
more information here. We spent the last couple of months looking
closely at reports of driver problems on pre-release builds and, to be
safe, we held the public availability until March.”
Continuing to explain the problem, White says that: “We've completed
our analysis and are happy to report that many of these issues were
fixed between the release candidate (RC) and the final version. We
identified a small number of device drivers that may be problematic
after an update from Windows Vista to Windows Vista SP1.”
Incredibly, these drivers are still an issue TODAY. What has Microsoft
doing these past few weeks, having a picnic? Even more alarmingly,
White admits that there could be yet MORE driver issues, when he says
that: “Check out the list
here; we'll keep it updated with any additional drivers that we identify.”
Well, it turns out Microsoft wasn’t having a picnic, but have tried to
fix the driver issues. Obviously they have not succeeded by their own
deadline (although Microsoft is kinda not well known for meeting
deadlines so this is no surprise).
White explains that: “As a result, we spent the past month or so
working with our partners on driver updates for these issues. Of these
drivers, most already have updated versions on Windows Update and are
available for download now as optional updates. In a few weeks, we'll
start to deliver these updated drivers to PCs automatically via Windows
Update.”
I keep on clicking ‘Check for updates’ – but I must have drivers which
don’t have updated versions yet, as I can’t download them as optional
updates. Windows Update assures me there is nothing new to download.
But there is hope, as White tells people like me, who are still having
driver issues that: “We're working with the providers of the remaining
devices to get updated versions of the drivers to our customers as
well. In the meantime, Windows Update will recognize PCs with drivers
that may be problematic and postpone offering SP1 to those PCs until it
has installed corrected drivers or other applicable updates. Either
way, Windows Update works to detect whether or not your system is ready
for SP1 and not offer it to you until the time is right.”
So, the wait continues, as the time is not right. For the affected
drivers, the other 7 scenarios that could cause your otherwise
qualifying Vista system to refuse an SP1 update, the Logitech webcam
problem, and my futile attempts to find updated versions on my own (as
Microsoft advises), thereby resolving the driver problems myself so I
could try getting SP1 to download via Windows Update, as well as Paul
Thurrott’s curious re-assurance that ‘all will be ok’... please read
onto page 3.
