The official release of Vista SP1 can’t be far off, because anyone can register and download the official SP1 release from Microsoft’s OEM site. There are so many improvements and to exising Vista features that I just can’t wait for this thing. I’m about to download that OEM version and install it and be done because it’s so damn slow when transfering files, even emptying the recycle bin is a pain. I have the display driver bug too, and anytime I login I have to wait 5 seconds for he screen to quit flickering before I can work. For the most part Windows Vista has been pretty “stable”, but as I’ve written before – for a system with 2GB of RAM you’d think it’d be a hell of a lot less sluggish than it is. I hope when I intstall SP1 it will be – you’ll be the first to read about my experiences with SP1 here.

ZDNet gives SP1 “7 out of 10″.

What are they highlighting in SP1?

- new windows Firewall
- improved Windows update
- preventive data loss when ejecting removable media
- improved sleep and wake-up times
- improved Readyboost
- smart card enhancements
- read/writing files is faster

Their advice? Wait until SP1 is offered through Windows “Automatic Updates” service. I think I might just do that.

It looks like Microsoft Vista Service Pack 1 isn’t much better at stopping pirates than the original release. Wired confirms that there are still several exploits available that bypass Vista activation that aren’t that complicated at all.

Windows Vista is getting to be the strangest version of Windows I have ever used.  I’ve had my Toshiba Satellite laptop for about 11 months now, and as you know it came installed with Vista on it from the factory.  The weird thing is I can’t remember ever telling it to automatically download and install updates from Windows Update, and yet it has been faithfully for 11 months now. It has told me once or twice that I had two “optional” driver updates, but I never approved anything else.  Today out of the blue I saw a little bubble appear above the tray “updates available” so I clicked on it and 9 updates were displayed.  7 were moderate to critical, and 2 were optional drivers – one for the wireless and the other for ‘Intel Mobile processor’.  I told it to install all 9, and then it minized to the tray – and it said it would continue to download and install updates in the background and I could go about my work.  So I did.

Boy was that a mistake.  I had Firefox open and Thunderbird Email.  I was surfing the web, a few tabs open, and in one of the tabs I was watching a YouTube video.  Then it happenned.  First my screen went black, which I might add happens frequently on this laptop, but it always flickers and comes right back.  I read recently in another article that problem should be fixed when Vista Service Pack 1 is released in 2008 (among other bug fixes).  So, I’m waiting for the screen to come back, and waiting, and then it starts to come back, but in a small box 1/4 the size of my screen (but the full display).  Then it flickers again and goes to some 640×480 resolution with absolutely HUGE icons, and then back to normal.  All the time my youtube video is choppily playing somehow in the background.  So I start to watch it again, and then the screen and mouse locks, and then everything comes back, and this whole process happens again and again like 3-5 times.  Eventually the screen goes to some kind of crazy huge pixelated number display, kind of like the Matrix, and then it goes black.  I tried to turn it off, and it wouldn’t.  I kept watching the hard drive light, and it just kep flickering, so I let it go.

I went to make dinner, and came back 25 minutes later and it was still flickering with a black screen.  After I ate it still was, so I watched a show on tv, and then out of the blue it stopped and my power light was red (indicating standby).  So I pressed power, and it came alive again as if nothing had happenned.  It said “updates completed – would you like to reboot” so I did.  Everything has been fine since then.  But why, Microsoft – did Windows Vista cripple my laptop and made it completely unusable for 48 minutes and make my display black??  Why didn’t it tell me first to close my programs??  Why do I own a piece of modern hardware with supposedly the best version of Windows ever created – and have Vista treat me worse than Windows 95 ever did?!  I just don’t get it.

Has this ever happenned to you?  Comment now and let us all know what you’re experiences have been.  I do with this laptop had shipped with Windows XP.