Rumors abound that Windows Vista SP1 is coming out today. Not feature-heavy, the focus is supposed to be on stability and security.
Will Vista finally seem stable? Perhaps today we’ll find out. Apparently it does fix somethign that I ran into myself: invalidating legitimately-licensed copies of the OS:
SP1 will eliminate the so-called ‘kill switch’ in the Windows Genuine Advantage anti-piracy tool, which forces the OS into reduced functionality mode if it fails to pass periodic system checks, and has flagged legitimate versions of the OS as pirated on several occasions.
Seriously, nothing like paying $400+ for an OS “upgrade,” and then be treated like a criminal by MS tech support a year later because all you did is change a video card. All while the real pirates have hacked their copies and are computing along activation-free.
UPDATE: Well, as it turns out Service Pack 1 is ready to roll, but only being launched to manufacturing at this time. This means that Vendors such as Dell will have DVDs with the upgrades slipstreamed into the installation programs. The public at large will still have to suffer until sometime in March.
What I’m hearing about SP1 isn’t very heartening though:
All this comes with a caveat, however. Nash said Microsoft has learned that Vista SP1 is not compatible with “a small set of device drivers” used by some PCs. Vista SP1 won’t install on those PCs until an update is available for the drivers, Nash said.
Greeeeat. I wonder how “small” this set of drivers actually is, and whether Microsoft may grace us with a fix at some point.
Bah, what I do I care? I’m switching to Mac! 🙂