“Vista Service Pack 1 will not be able to
be applied as an offline update to prestaged
install images,” Zipkin explained. “But this will
work as planned with future update, post-SP1
updates. We ran into some unexpected issues
with the servicing stack, so we can’t do it for
SP1. But we’re planning to add this capability
for SP2, though we can’t make any promises.
This will be a bigger issue around SP2 than it
is now. We think this is a one-time thing. But
you can still make your own slipstream DVD
using the old ‘-integrate’ method as with XP if
you want to.”
Deploying Vista SP1
Because Vista SP1 doesn’t support offline
updating, the deployment picture will look
familiar to anyone who has deployed service
packs for previous Windows versions. You
simply purchase a new copy of Vista after SP1
is released; you’ll receive a version that has
SP1 slipstreamed in. Consumers and small
businesses can download SP1 via Windows
Update: It will be a 51MB to 55MB download,
according to Microsoft, depending on the system.
Compare that to XP SP2, which weighed
in at about 110MB because of its many functional
changes.
Administrators will typically want to download
the standalone installer, which includes
all 36 languages currently supported by Vista
and works with any Vista disk. (There are
separate x86 and x64 versions, actually.) The
standalone installer will exceed 1GB in size.
Microsoft’s guidance for Vista SP1 deployments
is no surprise: The company says that
home users should install SP1 as soon as the
update appears on Windows Update. So, too,
should the smallest, unmanaged businesses
(i.e., those not on an Active Directory infrastructure).
The arrival of SP1 shouldn’t change anything
for Microsoft’s corporate customers. “Our
business customers already have the tools and
guidance they need to deploy Vista,” Zipkin
said. “Some are waiting to deploy, but they can
do some pre-SP1 work to hit the ground running.
They can begin application compatibility
testing on the SP1 beta or Vista gold [RTM]
code, as the compatibility picture isn’t changing.
There are architectural changes moving
from XP to Vista, but that’s a remediation you
will need to make with SP1 too. There’s no
need to stall things because of SP1.”
Vista SP1’s Timing
Microsoft says it will ship the final version
of Vista SP1 in first quarter 2008, alongside
Server 2008 and about three months before
the final XP service pack, SP3. Before that, the
company will issue a broadly available, nearfinal
version of the update via its MSDN and
TechNet subscription services. This update
will provide companies with a way to easily
test the software before it’s available in final
form.
Recommendations
With Vista, Microsoft had hoped to persuade
its corporate customers not to wait for the first
service pack before deploying the system. Now
that we finally know what the company will
include in Vista SP1, Microsoft’s advice suddenly
makes sense. Vista SP1 doesn’t dramatically
alter the Vista experience, so there’s no
need to wait until SP1 before deploying Vista.
That said, if your Vista deployment plans call
for rolling out the OS after first quarter 2008,
there’s no reason to step up the schedule
because of SP1. There’s simply nothing dramatic
here, and Vista SP1 is what Microsoft
service packs used to be like. That’s a good
thing for anyone who wished that the Windows
client team at the software giant would take a
page from the Windows Server playbook and
proceed on a more measured and calm development
path. With Vista SP1, it looks like that’s
exactly what’s happening.