Vista SP1 - release announcement

Well it looks like Microsoft has finally released Vista SP1 to manufacturing (as nearly every tech blog on the web seems to be reporting about). If you want to read up on the nitty-gritty specs, go and get a copy of this PDF from Microsoft.

Notable changes in Windows Vista SP1.pdf

Although I haven't had a chance to test SP1 first hand yet, my favorite list of improvements are:

1. SP1 reduces the number of UAC (User Account Control) prompts from 4 to 1 when creating or renaming a folder at a protected location.
   As someone who likes to keep the start menu organized, the constant double prompting to double confirm a copy, create, or rename, just about drove me crazy. If this has been improved the way it is suggested, I will be most pleased.
   
2. Enables support for hotpatching, a reboot-reduction servicing technology designed to maximize uptime. It works by allowing Windows components to be updated (or "patched") while they are still in use by a running process. Hotpatch-enabled update packages are installed via the same methods as traditional update packages, and will not trigger a system reboot.
   Now, I am really hoping this will fix the "middle of the night" reboots from Windows Automatic Updates. One thing that has bugged me about Vista and the auto update was how many times I would come in the next morning and realized that an update had rebooted a system that was in the middle of a work in progress. I eventually just turned of the auto update feature. Perhaps with SP1 I'll be able to trust this again. We'll see.
   
3. Improves responsiveness when doing many kinds of file or media manipulations. For example, with Windows Vista today, copying files after deleting a different set of files can make the copy operation take longer than needed. In SP1, the file copy time is the same as if no files were initially deleted.
   Man, this is another one of those "about time" fixes. There are about four points listed on page 9 that talk about file management and copying improvements. I don't know what my exact problem sources were, but hopefuly this will help the annoying issues I have been having with moving or deleting files that were in the middle of a thumbnail generation. And any general speed improvements (which seem slower than XP) will be welcome.
   
4. Improves reliability of OS updates by making them more resilient to unexpected interruptions, such as power failure.
   Ok, I don't know about anyone else, but this has the potential to make my life easier. I run tech support for a few systems in Africa where they have a tendency to loose power a couple times each day. This of course makes it inevitable that a power loss will occur during a hotfix installation. It has happened with XP a couple of times cause system problem. Maybe this will reduce the long term chances of problems with that issue.

And finally, the simple fact that over a hundred megabytes of hot fixes will be wrapped up into a single download (that can be mailed to Africa, for instance) will be enough to justify the existence of SP1 for me.

I really wish Microsoft would make a habit of issuing a service pack or hotfix roll up once a year. When trying to support multiple systems connected at dialup speeds or (worse) limited cell phone minutes, it becomes a bit ridiculous to require 100+ MB of updates anytime you do a new install. SP1 will be a relief in that area alone (at least for a few months).