Microsoft: Vista SP1 will break these programs

Microsoft: Vista SP1 will break these programs

By Suzanne Tindal
Special to CNET News.com

Published: February 21, 2008, 6:19 AM PST

Microsoft has published a list of programs that will not work or that will suffer from reduced functionality after the installation of Vista Service Pack 1.

The list of programs consists mostly of security applications, such as Trend Micro Internet Security 2008. However, programs such as The New York Times Reader application also feature on the list. Users are advised to install updates from the application vendor to fix the problem.

“Windows Vista Service Pack 1 contains many security, reliability, and feature updates for Windows Vista,” the company said. “A program may experience a loss of functionality after you install Windows Vista SP1. However, most programs will continue to work as expected after you install Windows Vista SP1.”

Further Reading at:

http://www.news.com/Microsoft-Vista-SP1-wi…_3-6231449.html

Click here – to know what programs will loose functionality in Vista.

I guess it’s time to take decision for using the good OS. Who will wait for the patches again from vendors.

Vista SP1 Offers Power Efficiency Enhancements

Most if not all the attention surrounding Windows Vista Service Pack 1 has been around performance, reliability and compatibility, but you probably didn’t know SP1 also makes short strides in terms of Vista’s power efficiency. And by short, I really do mean short because we’re talking about improvements in the magnitude of only a couple percents. That in the context of 5 hours battery life is a mere additional 6 minutes. Having said that, some is better than none.

The first of two improvements is in the display subsystem. Starting from SP1, the VSync in the Desktop Window Manager (DWM), intended to give a glitch free experience, no longer runs continuously. Instead, the interrupts are disabled after a short timeout period where no screen updates has occurred. The catch is that a screen update can be anything from a blinking cursor to a flashing network icon, so the chances of a screen idle might be a lot less than you would imagine. The second improvement is in the audio subsystem and only concerns those with HD Audio codecs. Whereas in the RTM, the sound card would never idle even if there was no activity, in SP1, the default idle timeout for has been changed to 30 seconds; after the time, the OS will switch the audio device to a D3 power state, meaning the device should not consume any energy at all.

:. Even though you install this service pack, if your system is not fast enough. you will be  doomed!

Vista Update Fingers Activation Cracks

Microsoft has announced an update available to consumers next week which will detect two cracks commonly used to activate pirated copies of the operating system. One of the cracks refered to as Grace Timer, extended Vista’s activation grace period, upto 2099. The other called as OEM BIOS, modified system files and the PC’s BIOS to mimic the product activation done by computer-makers at the factory. If the sniffer detects an activation hack, it will pop up a warning that includes a link to the removal tool. Although SP1 will block these two cracks, “it’s important to note that this update does not disable the exploits it finds,” says Alex Kochis. “It simply alerts customers that exploits exist.” However, MS will release a separate crack-removal tool at the same time that it rolls out the detection update.

!! This is a crap I say