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Vista Service Pack 2 released to manufacturers

Published on 29th April 2009 by Ben Hardwidge

Vista Service Pack 2 has already been released to manufacturers, and a public release is planned later this quarter.

A few months after Microsoft released the Windows Vista Service Pack 2 BETA to the public late last year, the titan of the software business has now announced that it’s closed the BETA in preparation for the real deal. According to Microsoft, the new service pack was released to PC manufacturers yesterday, and will be available to Joe Public later in this quarter (April – June 2009).

As well as including a bundle of all the updates that have been released since Vista Service Pack 1, the new service pack will also include support for new types of hardware, including the ID and vendor strings for VIA’s 64-bit Nano CPU. Among the service pack’s new features are support for Bluetooth 2.1 and the ability to write to Blu-Ray discs natively in the OS. However, it looks as though Blu-Ray movie playback will still have to come via a third-party app.

The service pack also promises to improve Wi-Fi performance, most notably when it comes to resuming your PC from Sleep mode, and Windows Connect Now will be available to simplify Wi-Fi configuration. Meanwhile, Windows Search 4.0 pledges to help give you “faster and improved relevancy in searches.” Finally, Vista Service Pack 2 will also enable the exFAT file system, which Microsoft says will “support UTC timestamps, which allows correct file synchronisation across time zones.”

On the Windows Team Blog, Microsoft’s Brandon LeBlanc said that the new service pack would come in a single installer along with Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2, which he said will make the new service pack “easy for IT Pros to manage, deploy, and support.”

Are you using Windows Vista, and what would you like to see in a future service pack? Let us know your thoughts in the forums.

13 Comments

Discuss in the forums Reply

perplekks45 29th April 2009, 14:36

A single installer for BOTH Vista and Server 2008? Does that mean I have to download everything instead of an incremental update?
Me no likey.

Other than that... meh. I got pissed off recently when Vista tried to tell me IE 8.0 was a required update. Yeah, right...
And I'm quite happy with Vista SP1 for now. No need for exFAT, WS 4.0 or WCN. Maybe at the end of the year, but then again, I might build something new around i5 then and if so it'll definitely based on 7.

Laitainion 29th April 2009, 14:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by perplekks45
A single installer for BOTH Vista and Server 2008? Does that mean I have to download everything instead of an incremental update?
Me no likey.

I strongly suspect not, Microsoft has always made service packs that include previous service packs. If you have SP1 + many updates already installed, Windows Update will simply dl and install what it needs to get you to a full Vista/Server 2008 SP2 install. I don't think it even means the network install package will be stupidly big, since Vista and Server 2008 are (I believe) essentially identical.

It's not like it was with XP/Server 2003 which were actually different Windows versions (XP was NT 5.1, Server 2003 5.2 and so on) thus requiring a different update schedule and so on.

perplekks45 29th April 2009, 14:49

Hm... you might be right. Still I won't give it a try anytime soon. :)

Star*Dagger 29th April 2009, 15:00

I think FireFox is the required update as far as browsers go.

perplekks45 29th April 2009, 15:09

Agreed.

azrael- 29th April 2009, 15:12

They released Windows 7 already? Wow, that was quick! :p

No, but seriously, I'm more excited for Win7 RC getting released tomorrow (yes, I know you can get it from dubious places, but I prefer a legal version. :)).

M4RTIN 29th April 2009, 15:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by azrael-

No, but seriously, I'm more excited for Win7 RC getting released tomorrow (yes, I know you can get it from dubious places, but I prefer a legal version. :)).

i thought it was may 5 that it was released?

Sebbo 29th April 2009, 15:30

i would like to see some of the features/improvements found in 7 pushed into Vista with SP2 (or maybe SP3, or a "Feature Pack"). certainly DX11 anyway, though i suspect it is still too early, the spec not being finalised yet and all.
Certainly like that Blu-ray write support has been added, especially as I've recently dropped in a BR Burner... nice smooth, glossy bezel, the dvd+-rw i bought with it looks boring in comparison. Wi-Fi i don't care much for anymore as i just use cables again now, and exFAT will mostly be suited to the server/vpn part of the market. Windows Search is something I use occasionally, works wonderfully on properly indexed drives, so if there's improvements to be made then have at it

oh, also more content for the Ultimate users, DreamScene wallpapers aimed more at gamers for one would be great, or tools for creating them (say, adding slight animations to still images etc)... that said, i've managed some nice ones by converting the .bik's used for loading screens in GoW and Mass Effect into mpgs

wuyanxu 29th April 2009, 15:32

seems all the changes are minor and useless for normal end user.

think i'll hold on to SP1 and wait until Win7 is released. got all latest updates anyway.

Nikumba 29th April 2009, 15:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by perplekks45
A single installer for BOTH Vista and Server 2008? Does that mean I have to download everything instead of an incremental update?
Me no likey.

Other than that... meh. I got pissed off recently when Vista tried to tell me IE 8.0 was a required update. Yeah, right...
And I'm quite happy with Vista SP1 for now. No need for exFAT, WS 4.0 or WCN. Maybe at the end of the year, but then again, I might build something new around i5 then and if so it'll definitely based on 7.

I think they will release a SP for Vista and an SP for 2008 but 32bit and 64bit will be included in the same Sp, so going from 4 to 2 files

KImbie

leexgx 29th April 2009, 16:21

think you need SP1 installed still (unless thay changed that) to install SP2

quack 29th April 2009, 16:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nikumba
I think they will release a SP for Vista and an SP for 2008 but 32bit and 64bit will be included in the same Sp, so going from 4 to 2 files

No, the 2 versions will be x86 and x64. Vista and 2008 do not need separate service pack installers, only the 32/64 bit flavours.

Quote:

Originally Posted by perplekks45
A single installer for BOTH Vista and Server 2008? Does that mean I have to download everything instead of an incremental update?

Most people won't need the full 350MB-ish network administrator installer, they can get the required bits from Windows Update which will be much smaller (around 43-90MB).

Quote:

Originally Posted by leexgx
think you need SP1 installed still (unless thay changed that) to install SP2

Correct, you need SP1 on Vista to install SP2. Server 2008 includes SP1.

azrael- 30th April 2009, 07:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by M4RTIN
Quote:
Originally Posted by azrael-

No, but seriously, I'm more excited for Win7 RC getting released tomorrow (yes, I know you can get it from dubious places, but I prefer a legal version. :)).
i thought it was may 5 that it was released?

For the general public it is. If you have access to MS TechNet or MSDN subscriber downloads Win7 RC1 should go up 30 April (that is, at some point today).