New poll up (in the right margin). Leave comments here.
Computer News
Final Vista Poll Results
Total Votes: 613
1- I’m using it and like it. (35%, 217 Votes)
2- I went back to XP. (24%, 145 Votes)
3- I haven’t tried it. (23%, 139 Votes)
4- I’m using it and don’t like it. (10%, 63 Votes)
5- I’m waiting for SP1. (8%, 49 Votes)
That breaks down as:
217 Positive (answer #1)
208 Negative (answers # 2 & 4)
188 Neutral (depending on how you look at it, answers # 3 & 5)
View it in the Polls Archive.
My Experience With Vista SP1 RTM
I’ll make this pretty short:
-2 machines
-Average install time 45 minutes.
-Problems / errors: Zero, zip, nada, none.
-Performance: No noticeable increase or decrease (see below). No benchmarks and none planned.
These were both upgrade installs. Both machines were already running a great many of the hotfixes beforehand. These machines are tweaked pretty good (and have UAC disabled).
I would like to hear the experiences of others who have installed Vista SP1 RTM.
(Please do not ask, or post where to get it. It is freely available all over the web. . If you can’t wait for MS to officially release it then hit up a forum or torrent.)
And as a side note, most of the versions I’ve seen available are in fact the real RTM.
These are the registry keys that you can look for to confirm it:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion]
“CurrentVersion”=”6.0”
“CurrentBuildNumber”=”6001”
“CurrentBuild”=”6001”
“SoftwareType”=”System”
“CurrentType”=”Multiprocessor Free”
“ProductName”=”Windows Vista (TM) Ultimate
“EditionID”=”Ultimate”
“BuildLab”=”6001.longhorn_rtm.080118-1840”
“BuildLabEx”=”6001.18000.x86fre.longhorn_rtm.080118-1840”
“CSDVersion”=”Service Pack 1”
***Hint:
File name: Windows6.0-KB936330-X86.exe
Firefox 2.0.0.12 Released
This release fixes a number of security and stability issues discovered in Firefox 2.0.0.11.
Release Notes
Download (EN-US-Win32)
Other Systems And Languages
New / Updated MS Vista SP1 Docs
Vista SP1 RTM
Vista Service Pack 1 will be available for download “mid-March” and via Windows Update “mid-April”.
More info at the Windows Vista Blog.
Phil Says Six More Weeks of Winter!
Phil’s official forecast as read 2/2/08 at sunrise at Gobbler’s Knob:
Here Ye! Here Ye! Here Ye!
On Gobbler’s Knob on this fabolous Groundhog Day, February 2nd, 2008
Punxsutawney Phil, the Seer of Seers, Prognosticator of all Prognosticators,
Rose to the call of President Bill Cooper and greeted his handlers, Ben Hughes and John Griffiths.After casting a weathered eye toward thousands of his faithful followers,
Phil consulted with President Cooper and directed him to the appropriate scroll, which proclaimed:“As I look around me, a bright sky I see, and a shadow beside me.
Six more weeks of winter it will be!”
“There is no way this winter is ever going to end, as long as this groundhog keeps seeing his shadow. I don’t see any other way out. He’s got to be stopped. And I have to stop him.”
Phil (Bill Murray) – Groundhog Day
about vLite…
vLite is a tool for customizing the Windows Vista installation before actually installing it.
Main features are:
* hotfix, language pack and driver integration
* component removal
* unattended setup
* tweaks
* split/merge Vista installation CDs
* create ISO and burn bootable CD/DVD
Windows Vista from Microsoft takes a lot of resources, we all know that. vLite provides you with an easy removal of the unwanted components in order to make Vista run faster and to your liking. This tool doesn’t use any kind of hacking, all files and registry entries are protected as they would be if you install the unedited version only with the changes you select. It configures the installation directly before the installation, meaning you’ll have to remake the ISO and reinstall it. This method is much cleaner, not to mention easier and more logical than doing it after installation on every reinstall.
There has been a bit of news about vLite floating around this week. Let me state first off that although I’ve used nLite (this is for XP), I haven’t used vLite. Simply because it wasn’t out of beta when I installed Vista.
– Paul Thurrott and Information Week seem to have just discovered this tool. Exactly how have they not heard of this before??? 🙄
–Microsoft comes out and says don’t use it.
nlite is an excellent product and I’ve no doubt that vLite meets those same standards. Yes, it isn’t for n00bs. Yes, you should know what you are installing, uninstalling, tweaking. Yes, this means you may have to take some personal responsibility and do a little research. Gasp! Oh the horror!
Anywho, I say go for it.
vLite
nLite
Release Notes for This Release of Windows Vista SP1
These Release Notes provide important information you should know prior to deploying and using the Windows Vista SP1 operating system, including known issues. You should familiarize yourself with all of the known issues listed here prior to installing the software.
Rumors have SP1 being released on the 5th, 12th, or 15th. 🙄
Download the Release Notes (updated 31JAN08).
JkDefrag v3.34 Is Out
JkDefrag is a disk defragmenter and optimizer for Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista/X64. Completely automatic and very easy to use, fast, low overhead, with several optimization strategies, and can handle floppies, USB disks, memory sticks, and anything else that looks like a disk to Windows…JkDefrag is completely free, no cost, no time limit.