First Vista Update: The Missing Link

The Age

Tuesday February 12, 2008

Nick Miller

Local IT integrators are perplexed over the "missing in action" status of Microsoft's first major update to its Windows Vista operating system.

And some have resorted to risky BitTorrent downloads to test its performance.

The update, called SP1, is designed to fix many of the new system's most glaring flaws, making it faster and more reliable, and hopefully more attractive to the enterprise market, which has so far largely avoided upgrading from its predecessor Windows XP.

Last Tuesday, Microsoft announced that SP1 was ready for distribution, in the jargon: "release to manufacture" (RTM). However, Jarrod Vassallo, a systems engineer at Dimension Data, a company that specialises in offering training in Microsoft solutions, says he has yet to see the update. "We usually get (a copy) in the first few days (after a product goes RTM)," he says. "This is a long delay. Everybody is trying to find it."

Mr Vassallo's company set up a pilot project to test the new release internally, so it could advise customers on how to deploy it in an enterprise environment - now on hold until the software turns up.

Mr Vassallo says he has followed two beta releases of SP1 and considers it a "must have" for anyone with Vista. "I have seen improved file copy, network browsing and generally quicker performance," he says. "From my experience, companies seem very hesitant to leave Windows XP. It will be very interesting to see where Vista SP1 takes the enterprise market and how many people are willing to jump."

Many companies were reluctant to leave XP behind because Vista posed too heavy a demand on their hardware.

"It meant the added cost of a hardware refresh," Mr Vassallo says. "You wouldn't want to try Vista on old hardware, it would just churn away at the CPU."

But SP1's improvements could tip the balance to Vista, he says.

Complaints over the delay have also swamped TechNet and the Microsoft Developers' Networks, which charge a membership fee to IT professionals who want early access to, and help deploying Microsoft products.

Many have left comments on the TechNet blog, furious at the delay.

"This is so silly," wrote one. "We are waiting for SP1 to try and prep our systems for Vista deployment. We need the code. Let us download from our Volume Licensing site, or download centre, or something. If it's done . . . let us have (it)."

A Microsoft blog has put the delay down to device driver problems with OEM manufacturers; despite the fact that SP1 is officially "ready", Microsoft will not release it for general consumer and enterprise download until mid-March, and it will not be an automatic update until mid-April.

Jeff Putt, director of the Windows Client Business Group at Microsoft Australia, says a delay between RTM and actual release is "not unusual".

"It's just making sure people get it in a timely way," he says. "There's a whole logistical life cycle. I'd take the impatience as a positive sign."

He advised users not to be tempted into downloading SP1 from unsafe (possibly malware infected) pirate sources, such as BitTorrent.

However, not all integrators are taking that advice. Next is aware of at least one Australian professional developer testing SP1 using a version downloaded from BitTorrent. Next has also tested a BitTorrent-sourced version that appears to be legitimate.

Dell's managing director Joe Kremer believes we haven't yet seen "the wave" of Vista adoption in the enterprise that he expects.

"At the moment the people buying Vista are mostly the people buying a new PC," he says. "I think there will be a wave. I just don't know when."

That wave may come once SP1 has proven itself, or it may be driven by consumers who have it at home and want it in the office, Mr Kremer says.

Microsoft itself says it is starting to see signs that Vista is moving from "the early adoption phase into the mainstream".

However, vendors such as Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Fujitsu and NEC all allow buyers to downgrade to XP.

Mr Putt says he does not expect SP1 to trigger any sudden "wave" of new adoptions of Vista but rather an "increasing groundswell".

Many customers tell him they will not consider deploying Vista before the release of SP1. Others have piloted the operating system but are waiting for SP1's performance and reliability improvements, as well as its better compatibility with key consumer and enterprise software.

"It will cause a lot more people to enter the deployment life cycle," he says.

© 2008 The Age

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