simple Windows Vista Service Pack 1 question

[T J]

Hi all! I know there is another vista service pack 1 thread here but my question isn't about how to install it but why? I got a new laptop last week and I'm in love. It has Vista premium and runs like a dream. That being the case I've sen these threads in vista service pack 1 and I see lots of people are having problems with it.

Now as I said I have no problems and I don't want to mess anything up. Could someone tell me why I should install it? What good will it do me? What will it do for or to my laptop good or bad. Is it essential? I guess I'm looking for basic answers before I even try it.

Thanks guys!

 

[Twilight]

Vista SP1 is in no way essential. It fixes some WGA problems (authentication - you don't need to worry about it) and speeds up (slightly) file copy. It also fixes a few compatibility issues that plagued Vista at launch. But if your machine runs fine with Vista as it is now, you don't need to worry about those compatibility issues unless you plan to install new hardware.

Other than that, if you keep your machine regularly updated through Windows Update, you effectively already have 90% of SP1 - the important security updates, at least.


Having said that, there's no real risk in installing it anyway. You'll be forced to in about 6 months anyway. The install was painless for me and most of my friends except one: with SP1 his integrated network card drivers no longer worked and he could not connect to the internet - no joke!

His was probably an extreme case, though.

But yeah - no real reason at all to upgrade if you don't want to. Having said that there's no huge reason not to. It does make your computer feel a TEEENSY bit more snappy (I've noticed, at least - boot time is faster and there are MINOR optimization fixes).

But, honestly, if I sat at two identical machines - one with SP1 and one with regular launch Vista, I'd never be able to tell the difference if I didn't actively look for the version number [that and the missing search button on the start menu].


For a comprehensive page on what SP1 is and is NOT, look here:

http://www.winsupersite.com/faq/vista_sp1.asp

and here:

http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/winvista_sp1.asp

(the last is a review)

 

[T J]

Thanks Twilight! That was exactly what I needed to know.

 

[Capt. Vulcan]

So how is Vista nowadays? I just upgraded my computer and I was wondering if it was worth the change over to Vista. All I ever seem to hear about Vista is bad news so I'm hesitant to try it out, particularly considering how expensive it is.

 

[USS KG5]

So how is Vista nowadays? I just upgraded my computer and I was wondering if it was worth the change over to Vista. All I ever seem to hear about Vista is bad news so I'm hesitant to try it out, particularly considering how expensive it is.

It is not worth spending money on.

If you are planning on ripping it off - don't - use linux instead.

 

[TerriO]

So how is Vista nowadays? I just upgraded my computer and I was wondering if it was worth the change over to Vista. All I ever seem to hear about Vista is bad news so I'm hesitant to try it out, particularly considering how expensive it is.

Mine came pre-loaded with Vista, so I honestly haven't encountered some of the situations that people here who've upgraded are encountering.

It would be tragically amusing if that were the stumbling block right there. Vista being okay on a new machine, but not playing well with XP.

 

[John Picard]

So how is Vista nowadays? I just upgraded my computer and I was wondering if it was worth the change over to Vista. All I ever seem to hear about Vista is bad news so I'm hesitant to try it out, particularly considering how expensive it is.

It is not worth spending money on.

If you are planning on ripping it off - don't - use linux instead.

Recently, someone told me that I would *have to* upgrade to Vista or whatever else MS comes out with when XP is no longer supported. I stated that at that point I would go to Linux. The expression was priceless

 

[USS KG5]

So how is Vista nowadays? I just upgraded my computer and I was wondering if it was worth the change over to Vista. All I ever seem to hear about Vista is bad news so I'm hesitant to try it out, particularly considering how expensive it is.

It is not worth spending money on.

If you are planning on ripping it off - don't - use linux instead.

Recently, someone told me that I would *have to* upgrade to Vista or whatever else MS comes out with when XP is no longer supported. I stated that at that point I would go to Linux. The expression was priceless

Well there are still some people who refuse to upgrade from Windows 98 - after all XP will not run decently on anything less than an Athlon Thunderbird or P3 with 256MB of RAM and a lot of PCs older than this are still around.

Of course you can configure linux to run on virtually any hardware as well! I'm on Fedora 8 at the minute just installed running lovely need the nVidia drivers next for some 3D games...

 

[Twilight]

So how is Vista nowadays? I just upgraded my computer and I was wondering if it was worth the change over to Vista. All I ever seem to hear about Vista is bad news so I'm hesitant to try it out, particularly considering how expensive it is.

Frankly I wouldn't spend a dime on it. I have it on one of my machines only because I like to play a few games that are windows only and won't run well through wine on linux.

Otherwise my main work machines are an Ubuntu 7.10 - beautiful OS, the best of all, IMO, and OS X. Vista is a perfectly fine operating system that gets more grief than it deserves. But it's NOT worth $200. Modern linux distros are all superior to Windows and they don't cost a dime.

 

[Capt. Vulcan]

My old box is probably going to go linux and act as a server if I can figure out how to share between the systems. The main reason I'm interested in Vista is because XP can't address all of my ram and I'd also like to see what my new quad core can handle.

So SP1 hasn't really improved the Vista situation huh? Too bad.

I've got a quick question about networking. It turns out the motherboard I have has an ethernet connection that tops out at 4mbs, and my cable connection usually hovers around 6-7mbs. Is there some way to use the second network plug to use all the bandwidth? I'm guessing not, but it would be nice to gain access to that extra speed without having to buy a new nic card. I'm not even sure I have a free pci slot to install one.