Windows Vista SP1, Not Bad

I have to say that my initial experiences with Microsoft Windows Vista SP1 are pretty good. I’ve installed it on both my desktops, and now my laptop. That pokey feeling that Vista generally had seems to be gone, making things seem a lot smoother in general. This high praise from me, given my criticism of Vista in the past, as well as the trouble I’ve had with QuickTime, ATI drivers, scanner drivers, and strange network problems. I’m also impressed that the Vista SP1 kernel is the same as the Windows Server 2008 kernel. Fewer code bases usually means time saved in fixing bugs and adding features.

I know Microsoft did a lot of work to improve the copy routines in SP1. Some folks have complained about copy speeds being even worse now, but I haven’t seen that. I’ve been converting my DVDs I own (whatever that means anymore) to iPhone format so I can watch them at the gym, and shuffling those big files around does seem a lot faster.

MS doesn’t seem to have changed much in terms of the ever-annoying User Access Control, or the mashed up control panels (like the network control panel), but that’s to be expected. Once a product ships a lot of people get jumpy when functionality changes.

Both my desktop and my laptop have been rebuilt recently, so I have current drivers and software updates. Old drivers have been the only thing I’ve heard about as showstoppers, so the obvious advice is to ensure your third-party drivers are up to date.