As my previous post on 15 March, Microsoft today released Windows Vista SP1 via Windows Update. Microsoft initially held back the public release of the Service Pack to resolve some hardware driver compatibility problems

In a post on the Windows Vista Team Blog Nick White wrote: “For those of you happy to wait - sit tight because SP1 will start downloading to PCs automatically beginning in mid-April (Remember, this happens only if you have your Windows Update configured to automatically download updates and SP1 will automatically download but not automatically install).”

He continued: “But if you want to get the benefit of a year’s worth of improvements right now, go check Windows Update today…(Hit the Start Menu, All Programs, and select Windows Update)”.

“If in running Windows Update you do not see Windows Vista SP1 listed, there are a number of good reasons for this (Eight in fact, see the whole list).”

In his post Nick White also confirmed the situation regarding driver compatibility

“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. Check out the list here; we’ll keep it updated with any additional drivers that we identify. 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.”

In respect to the outstanding language packs he also stated “Looking forward, we’re also getting ready to begin releasing the second wave of SP1 languages in April. These are the other 31 languages that we haven’t released yet”.

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