Faster, better Windows Vista coming to a browser near you

Microsoft's long-awaited Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is available for download on the Web from today, and the company's Colin Erasmus promises a fix-rich release that will further improve the Windows Vista experience.

Drawing strongly on work from Microsoft's hardware and software partners, SP1 brings improvements that address many key pieces of customer feedback, especially in the areas of performance and reliability.

SP1 will bring enhanced value to customers in terms of security, performance, reliability and application compatibility, says Erasmus, who heads up the Windows Client business at Microsoft SA.

"For the consumer, there's never been a better time to look at Windows Vista," said Erasmus. "The capabilities that make Vista great are still there, but now, about a year out, we can look back and see significant improvements in application, hardware, and device compatibility. SP1 also brings a number of changes that continue to improve the Windows Vista experience."

In addition to previously released updates, SP1 will contain enhancements focused on addressing reliability and performance, supporting new types of hardware, and adding support for several emerging standards. SP1 will make it easier for IT administrators to deploy and manage Windows Vista.

SP1 will improve general responsiveness, and according to Erasmus, the improvements in SP1 primarily target the key scenarios "where we can really make a difference in the customer experience". For instance, in many cases SP1:

* Improves the speed of copying and decompressing files
* Improves the time to resume from hibernate and standby
* Improves the performance of domain joined PCs when operating off of the domain
* Improves battery life by reducing CPU utilization by not having to redraw the screen as frequently, on certain hardware
* Improves the logon experience

"Windows Vista SP1 does not change the way Windows Vista looks, or require you to learn anything new," says Erasmus. "It simply makes Windows Vista-based PCs more secure and reliable, run more smoothly, and even more enjoyable to use."

The following are examples of how SP1 improves the administration experience:

* With Windows Vista SP1, BitLocker Drive Encryption has been enhanced to not only fully encrypt the entire Windows Vista volume but also any or all additional locally created data volumes. (Customers can now not only fully encrypt C: but also D: and E:)

* SP1 improves printer management by addressing difficulties associated with printing to a local printer from within a Terminal Server session

* Network diagnostics in Windows Vista SP1 will help users with the most common file sharing problems, in addition to basic problems already supported
* Windows Vista SP1 includes support for SSTP (Secure Sockets Tunnel Protocol), a remote access VPN tunnelling protocol that will be part of Microsoft's RRAS (Routing and Remote Access Service) platform. SSTP helps provide full-network VPN remote access connections without some of the challenges that other VPN tunnels face traversing NAT, web proxies, and firewalls such as those that users might encounter at hotels or coffee shops
* SP1 includes an update to Disk Defragmenter so administrators can control which volumes the disk defragmenter runs on

Windows Vista SP1 is approximately 65MB when delivered over Windows Update or downloaded from the Microsoft Download Centre. It will be included with all Windows Vista products on store shelves as soon as April.