SP1 Improvements to Windows Vista

Just a year after Microsoft officially released Windows Vista, the company announced the release to manufacturing (RTM) availability of SP1. Not coincidentally, this announcement came the same day as Windows Server 2008’s RTM— Microsoft clearly wants to emphasize Vista SP1 as the fully compatible client platform for Server 2008. Some of Server 2008’s new features, such as Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol (SSTP) and Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT), don’t work on Vista, or on previous client OSs. Because Vista SP1 and Server 2008 are based on the same kernel, many files are common to both products.

In addition to its compatibility with Server 2008, Vista SP1 is an important user upgrade for a variety of reasons. SP1 greatly improves Vista’s performance and stability. In addition, SP1 fixes all registered bugs and security holes reported up to January 2008. Microsoft made extensive use of the Windows Error Reporting (WER) service’s user bug and crash reports to analyze and summarize bugs that needed to be fixed. In this article I focus on SP1’s most important improvements and new features.

Installation
Microsoft is including SP1 with new Vista installations. If you’re already running Vista, you can obtain the service pack from Microsoft Update or from your local Windows Server Update Services (WSUS). This approach is easy and fast because it downloads only the files that are necessary for your machine. For example, if you’re running a fully updated version of Vista, then SP1 requires only about 100MB to 130MB of new files. (Note that automatic updates must be enabled for this method to work.) Another option is to download the full 500MB package. This method is necessary if you want to install SP1 offline. To download Vista SP1, go to technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsvista/bb738089.aspx.

SP1 is available in 36 languages. Vista’s language-neutral design ensures that the service pack can update any possible combination of the basic languages supported, with a single installer. Language files for the 36 basic languages are included in the stand-alone installer.

Installing SP1 takes approximately 40 minutes to an hour. You must restart the machine after installation.

General Improvements
Several of Vista SP1’s improvements are immediately apparent. For example, the number of User Account Control (UAC) prompts is greatly reduced for certain tasks, such as for creating and modifying folders in a systemprotected location. Many Vista users complained that UAC prompts appear too often, especially repeatedly for a single task. These occurrences are significantly reduced in SP1. (Note that leaving UAC prompts enabled is still highly recommended.)

Another improvement is that Vista SP1’s Control Panel System applet now displays the correct amount of memory. In previous Windows versions (e.g., Vista, 32-bit XP), the system shows only 3.25GB of RAM if you have more than 3GB. Although you can now see the correct amount of RAM, the OS can’t necessarily allocate the whole memory space. Also, because this feature is chipset/ BIOS dependent, the amount of memory that’s displayed might still be incorrect if BIOS doesn’t read it correctly. This problem occurs most often with older versions of chipsets that are 32-bit at the core. If you have a newer motherboard, you can use the memory remapping feature in BIOS to fix this problem.

Unlike in the original version, the OS won’t default to reduced functionality mode if you install Vista SP1 without a proper license key, or with a pirated key. Although you can use the OS’s full functionality and features, you’ll receive repeated and frequent messages that your copy of Vista isn’t genuine, as well as instructions for obtaining a legitimate copy. Microsoft is dedicated to fighting piracy, and the company’s research and customer feedback show that this approach is much more effective than reducing the OS’s functionality.

When you set up Vista SP1, you’ll be forced to enter a password hint. The hint was optional in previous versions, but because the Vista Administrator account isn’t enabled by default, as it is in XP, users who forget their passwords will be completely unable to access their computers.

Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) is removed in SP1 because of a similar console in RSAT, which replaces the Windows Server 2003 Administration Tools Pack and contains a more powerful GPMC. RSAT is available as a separate download from www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=9ff6e897-23ce-4a36-b7fcd52065de9960. If you’re wondering what would happen if you installed RSAT on Vista (which contains GPMC), you should note that doing so isn’t possible. RSAT works only on Server 2008 and Vista SP1.

Vista SP1 contains numerous other minor enhancements. For example, in SP1 the Network Diagnostic Framework covers a wider scope of problems than in Vista, fewer OS restarts occur when you install updates, and you can now install the 64-bit OS from a 32-bit system (which lets you easily create a dual boot disk, as well as use just one Windows Preinstallation Environment— WinPE—image for installing both 32-bit and 64-bit Vista). Another benefit is that you can choose from various desktop search engines in Vista SP1, just as in Internet Explorer (IE). Vista SP1 is more resilient to power failures or incomplete software installations than XP SP2. Finally, SP1 supports the new extended file allocation table (exFAT) file system, which is designed for flash storage devices.

Security Enhancements
In addition to including all previously published security fixes, Vista SP1 delivers some new security features. Although SP1 doesn’t have as many security problems as XP, aligning Vista with Server 2008 required some security updates.

Vista SP1 supports SSTP connections, which is a useful new feature in Server 2008 that lets users establish VPN connection by using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) over port 443. Previously, most VPN connections were established via ports 1723 (PPTP) or ports 500 and 4500 (L2TP). This approach sometimes caused problems—for example, users couldn’t connect from public hotspots or hotel networks because those ports were usually blocked by a firewall, or VPN traffic couldn’t pass Network Address Translation (NAT). Port 443 is always open because of HTTP Secure (HTTPS) traffic, leading to wider VPN availability. Vista SP1 is the only client OS that supports SSTP. As you can see in Figure 1, configuring this feature is similar to creating a VPN connection.

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