Ben_2 Well that was easy! Not only did the Release Candidate Refresh 2 of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) install successfully, it installed much faster than the previous version attempted to. In fact the experience was quite pleasant. I loaded the DVD in, requested that it automatically reboot when necessary, and then it was off doing its magic. Just a little over an hour later — but still after three reboots — I had successfully installed Windows Vista SP1.

The experience sure restored my faith in being an early adopter, especially after yesterday’s experiences (PLEASE LINK BACK TO FIRST POST). And it’s nice to see how much progress Microsoft has made in shaping the final release of SP1 to be as pleasant an experience as possible. I feel for businesses that have to roll this out by the thousands but I guess the silver lining in the tempered adoption of Windows Vista to date is that many were wise enough to not have to.

So what has the SP1 experience been like? I can’t say I’ve noticed much of a difference. But then I’ve only been running it for a few hours and I understand it takes time to relearn the user’s habits and preferences. I suspect the user experience changes that SP1 brings will be a nonevent, but it’s nice to know my software is up-to-date, all available security patches have been applied, and any bugs that existed in Windows Vista RTM — whether I noticed them or not — have been fixed.

I wonder what we’re in store for with SP2. I’d love to hear any suggestions our readers have!

By Benjamin Gray

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