Vista SP1 officially coming tomorrow?

It's already got its own toilet paper in Japan, but the rest of us are still patiently waiting for Vista SP1 to officially hit -- but maybe not for much longer: DailyTech is reporting that SP1 will be available for download starting tomorrow, with boxed copies to follow on store shelves Wednesday. While Microsoft's PR team wouldn't confirm anything other than "on track for mid-March" to The Register, it seems the company has been a little more forthcoming with its pals at Amazon, which is also listing March 18th as the release date for SP1. That's some fishy fish, but there's only one way to find out for reals -- nap time, here we come.

Read - DailyTech
Read - El Reg
Read - Amazon

[Andrew @ Mar 17th 2008 2:09PM]

I wonder why Microsoft has been so shady with Vista's Service Pack 1's release date.
I suppose in the long run, it doesn't matte, as long as I can upgrade my Vista installation by the end of the month.

[Andrew @ Mar 17th 2008 2:09PM]

Matter*.

[Chris @ Mar 17th 2008 2:19PM]

shady? How so?... oh right, you're just being a troll. bye bye now.

[Infamouship @ Mar 17th 2008 11:55PM]

@Chris

Your an idiot. Hes not being a troll. MS has taken their sweet time to release this and they still wont give us a release date!

[Seoultrain @ Mar 17th 2008 2:33PM]

Yeah, I was wondering the same thing. The only scenario I could come up with was that SP1 is not going to save Vista and make it a must-upgrade, so they didn't want to over-hype it, only to disappoint everyone later. Hopefully that's not the case.

[Chebwa @ Mar 17th 2008 2:43PM]

"Your an idiot."

Oh my... that's sad.

[Paul @ Mar 17th 2008 3:13PM]

Lets see here, when MS delays a release its being "shady" when Apple delays a release its because they are "improving" it.

Nice to have a double standard around here guys.

[Aguiluz @ Mar 17th 2008 5:08PM]

Tomorrow! Yeah! (I hope...) I hope it fixes the "Calculating Time Remaining" thing... I Don't wanna calculate, JUST DO THE DARN THING!

P.S: I spotted this oddity on Google:
http://thesource.ofallevil.com

[Andrew @ Mar 17th 2008 5:10PM]

Paul: Apple's been shadier than Microsoft lately, I'm not denying that. But that has nothing to do with my comment.

[Zak @ Mar 17th 2008 2:09PM]

Yay for service packs! No sarcasm here, I have Vista at home. I'm looking forward to SP1.

[Anthony @ Mar 17th 2008 2:29PM]

The only strange thing about Vista compared to XP seems to be the shear volume of updates. Something's happening pretty much every day. Every time I look there's an "!" in the close down for putting something new on. Maybe SP1 will help slow the floodgates.

[Richard @ Mar 17th 2008 3:17PM]

Really? I never have anything. When I check the only download options I have are dozens of language packs and some poker game.

[josh @ Mar 17th 2008 3:25PM]

"The only strange thing about Vista compared to XP seems to be the shear volume of updates. Something's happening pretty much every day. Every time I look there's an "!" in the close down for putting something new on. Maybe SP1 will help slow the floodgates."

Are you running Ultimate? The language packs and lame extras pop up fairly often with it, but actual updates only come out every second tuesday of the month. In terms of OS updates, Vista has had far fewer than XP(actually, far fewer than any current OS), though Office generates a pretty goodly number. The last round of updates had no Vista patches but several office ones for example

[Mike10010100 @ Mar 17th 2008 3:37PM]

"shear"? I would think more sheer, unless you were going to cut some hair.

[Brian @ Mar 17th 2008 6:07PM]

"The only strange thing about Vista compared to XP seems to be the shear volume of updates. Something's happening pretty much every day. Every time I look there's an "!" in the close down for putting something new on. Maybe SP1 will help slow the floodgates."

Frequently those are updates for Windows Defender, not really "Vista" updates.

[iofthestorm @ Mar 17th 2008 6:36PM]

Yeah, Brian's right, those are for Windows Defender. If you install that in XP you'll get the daily definition updates too.

[RiCEADDiCTBOY @ Mar 17th 2008 2:10PM]

YAY!

[fusion @ Mar 17th 2008 2:10PM]

WICKED I CANT WAIT, FOR VISTA

[giantenemycrab @ Mar 17th 2008 2:34PM]

Steve?

[DarCowAlways @ Mar 17th 2008 2:12PM]

Whoa. Kind of sudden notice, don't you think?
Oh well. All the better for Vista users like me!

[OneLove @ Mar 17th 2008 2:28PM]

sudden notice? where have you been?

[fusion @ Mar 17th 2008 2:12PM]

KOOL, WICKED ALAST I CANT WAIT, FOR VISTA SP1, WICKED

[Nicky-Larson @ Mar 17th 2008 2:13PM]

It was high time............. I needed to badly uninstall the SP1 RC I had since last year

[roach @ Mar 17th 2008 2:14PM]

me buy

[RiCEADDiCTBOY @ Mar 17th 2008 2:15PM]

Personally, I love Vista. It has its faults (no OS is perfect) and I honestly cannot go back to Vista. I have had zero driver issues and etc. The GUI is a much welcomed improvement - even if Microsoft took cues from Apple. The service pack is just another plus imo.

Why are people taking cheap shots with the toliet paper stint in Japan? Is this really news to you all? This isn't the first product to get toliet paper as promotional items (a Wii game, and several other products). It is Japan after all. Oh I forgot, people just like to hate on Microsoft. Oh well.

[RiCEADDiCTBOY @ Mar 17th 2008 2:17PM]

**Personally, I love Vista. It has its faults (no OS is perfect) and I honestly cannot go back to *XP. (HAHAHA...)

[Chris @ Mar 17th 2008 2:22PM]

Just ignore posts like the toilet paper. Engadget just need to fill their Apple fanboy quota for the day.

Don't worry guys, the cheque's in the mail.

[michael @ Mar 17th 2008 2:17PM]

SP1 has been available for quite awhile for current Vista users - Just check Windows Updates.

And they're free.

[Zak @ Mar 17th 2008 2:22PM]

I have been checking Updates, SP1 has never shown up. I'm on Vista 64-bit, that might be why. I checked updates last night in fact, no SP1.

[michael @ Mar 17th 2008 2:28PM]

@Zak: I meant most of the changes for Vista SP1 have came through as small updates in Windows Updates. Many Microsoft blogs have mentions this already.

Well actually, even though it's Wikipedia, Wikipedia stated that updates will also come for users via an Update on Tuesday, March 18th. Check the last entry.

[michael @ Mar 17th 2008 2:35PM]

Whoops. Here's the link : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vista_sp1#Service_Pack_1

[Zak @ Mar 17th 2008 2:55PM]

Ahh, I getcha. Yeah I have been getting minor updates now and then.

[James Cameron @ Mar 17th 2008 2:20PM]

I wonder if this Final SP1 fix the stupid annoying SORT BY, GROUP BY, STACK BY from keep on changing the details back to default every freaking time. The SP1 RC didn't fix that at all.

[Christian @ Mar 17th 2008 2:20PM]

I find it funny how people choose to sleep a whole day to make the day go by faster. I wish I could but I have this damn work to deal with. I wish cryo-tech was available.

[Sebastian @ Mar 17th 2008 2:20PM]

Already got it! It's on our universities msdnaa server. But got a lot of problems with drivers! It seems to be faster and laptop battery is longer lasting!

[cc123 @ Mar 17th 2008 2:23PM]

So whats in SP1 again?

[Andrew @ Mar 17th 2008 2:41PM]

Try this link.
http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/windowsvista/pages/windows-vista-service-pack-1-beta-whitepaper.aspx

[Kyrra @ Mar 17th 2008 2:26PM]

I'm rather looking forward to SP1. I've got Vista installed on a second harddrive on my home system and it's just waiting for SP1 to launch. Once it is available I'll finally start messing with the OS.

[Chebwa @ Mar 17th 2008 2:32PM]

I have been using Vista with SP1 preinstalled for several weeks now (64 and 32 bit) and it really is improved. You can feel things moving a little bit quicker than with the original release. It's just tighter in general. And NO driver issues on a very wide range of hardware. They got it right with SP1. If you're going Vista, now is the best time to do it.

[Anthony @ Mar 17th 2008 2:35PM]

ROFLMAO..HAHAHAHAHA!!!....you poor bastards. I honestly feel sorry for everyone who puts themselves through this crap from Microsoft. You guys just continue to take the abuse and go back for more. I implore you: switch to something else for your own sanity. Anything else?

Do you want to end up like that lunatic, Steve Ballmer? You can argue he's rich,but no amount of money is worth losing your mind. Go look at the poor saps photo on Wikipedia. He looks like a psychotic rabid dog looking for his next chance to act like a nut. He's like that because he's been using Microsoft Windows for the past 20 years.

[Jevanzz @ Mar 17th 2008 2:41PM]

Kind sir, prepare to voted down into an abyss of nothingness!

[Chebwa @ Mar 17th 2008 2:41PM]

So I can use Windows and wind up like Balmer, or switch to something else and wind up like you?

One copy of Vista Business, please.

[RiCEADDiCTBOY @ Mar 17th 2008 2:41PM]

**Anthony,

What abuse? Most issues that Window users typically encounter are from their own negligence. I use both Windows and Apple OSX, and I like both. I have nothing notably bad to say about Vista. Dispite Microsoft and their "bullying" attitude - its really not that different from Apple and the cult following of "I'm better than you" users. I'm a middle man - if the product works - I use it. Vista works for me and does what I need it to do. Sounds like money well spent.

[Juice Daddy @ Mar 18th 2008 12:08AM]

@RiCEADDiCTBOY

my thoughts exactly


people need to understand that there are only two types of computer problems

user error & hardware failure

[Gian @ Mar 18th 2008 7:35AM]

Oh, boy. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Software developers make more mistakes than most. You have no idea how often software is shipped with open defects deemed too minor or obscure to delay a shipping date. There are often catastrophic defects which result from untested aspects of the software, which are often unseen until reported by the end-user. If it was all without failure points upon initial shipping, there would never be a need for updates or "service packs".

[ReggieXuk @ Mar 17th 2008 2:38PM]

DIGITAL LIFE LIST:

Halo 3 Patch *check*
COD 4 Patch *check*
Vista SP1 *pending*

[rob @ Mar 17th 2008 2:43PM]

yh...ok.. im confused..

i have vista installed already..will i have to pay to get SP1 or will i just have to download it? i know its properly a really stupid question but can someone please help?

regards

[RiCEADDiCTBOY @ Mar 17th 2008 2:45PM]

**Rob,
Its free. :)

[michael @ Mar 17th 2008 2:47PM]

It will come as a free Update via Windows Updates on Tuesday.

That's what many Microsoft blogs have already said.

[Patriks7 @ Mar 17th 2008 5:06PM]

please do remember this is an apple blog so it hasnt been mentioned ;)