Today Microsoft is releasing the Beta of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 which was announced by Nick White few weeks ago. I'd like to take the opportunity to share my very own experiences with Windows Vista SP1 Beta running on several PCs of my own. I decided to test SP1 on a variety of hardware which allows me to test a variety of scenarios:

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Desktop PC (Custom-made) running Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit.
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Laptop (HP tx1000) running Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit.

The most common way the user will get SP1 will be through Windows Update. That is how I installed SP1 on the HP tx1000. Before getting to the SP1, a series of 3 prerequisites had to be installed first (It was 3 for me since I'm running Windows Vista Ultimate, but users who aren't running Ultimate or Enterprise will only have 2 to install since BitLocker is not included in the other Windows Vista SKUs). I talked to Product Manager David Zipkin who explained what these prerequisites are for. The first prerequisite includes updates to the servicing stack. The second prerequisite is an update for BitLocker-capable PCs (Windows Vista Enterprise and Windows Vista Ultimate) to ensure proper servicing of Bitlocker. And the third and final prerequisite includes some updates to Windows, necessary to install and uninstall the service pack.


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The full story

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Windows Vista Team Blog