This does not sound like something like Microsoft would do, so I was a little bit surprised. Apparently, the whole “reason” of UAC (User Account Control) was to push third-party vendors to make their code run securely, so their software use won’t display a prompt. Normally, I would be pissed off at Microsoft, but the fact that you can disable user account control holds me from letting it all out (which by the way might not be so pretty).

I actually find this to be a pretty good move on Microsoft’s part.This is one of the few times Microsoft tries to improve security in an effective way. I mean, the Windows XP firewall was a complete BUST! Lets hope Microsoft does these things more often.

Microsoft, I have got to admit this is step up from your complaint-filled Vista Service Pack 1 launch. But not too big of a step up. I don’t think this move from will attract a lot of attention because it was pretty obvious. Just about everyone would have seen this type of thing, and I pity the ones who didn’t.

It is not suprising to see that Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is starting to become even more of a failure, especially when it’s not even their fault. We already saw a lot of driver issues in the first release. Again, this should have been obvious that this was going to happen. The driver problems overrun about all of the other issues Microsoft haven’t worked out in SP1, and it isn’t even their fault. Poor Microsoft. If you weren’t such a pain in the first place, maybe I would have donated.

VIA ChannelWeb

Wow Microsoft. You’ve done it again. You have screwed up Vista once more, and this time I don’t think you can redeem yourselves. You have discouraged me even more from the software with a hefty price tag known as Windows Vista. Forum users and bloggers around the nation are angry and upset about why they can’t upgrade to Vista Service Pack 1. It appears that Microsoft has set some prerequisites that you have to meet, among those comes certain language packs and compatible drivers.

Now that I think about it, I think I am being a little too unfair by putting all of the blame on Microsoft. Maybe I should take some heat off of them and put some on the drivers. It’s not really Microsoft’s problem that drivers aren’t updated by their corresponding manufacturers. Maybe it was just karma that Microsoft has these driver problems. Or maybe it’s just them. Whatever it is, I highly doubt I am going to switch to Windows Vista as of posting this article.

VIA ComputerWorld

For all of you Vista fans, this is your time to celebrate! Microsoft finally released Windows Vista Service Pack 1, after a year full of complaints. Workers of businesses, looks like your company might be taking the plunge to Vista if they think it’s worthy. Here are some of the features of SP1, as Emil Protalinski describes it:

File copying should no longer have an ETA of hundreds of years

UAC has been altered slightly, including fewer prompts in specific scenarios

DirectX has been updated to support not only DirectX 9 and 10 hardware, but the backwards-compatible 10.1 as well

WGA has been tweaked to address two of the most popular exploits

Further support has been added for third party search solutions

I am excited to see UAC on that list. When I was using Windows Vista on a friend’s computer, I was experimenting with the administrative control panel. Every single thing I wanted to do (in my opinion, of course) required a dimming of the monitor to answer the “Windows needs your permission to continue” box. Although you can disable this feature for administrators all-together, I am glad they are letting up on the restrictions a little bit so people can make the feature useful in family-type environments.

I have yet to get Vista because of my stubbornness to pay the money needed to get it. It seems to me a lot of people are not taking the leap to Vista (legally, of course) because the price tags for it are so hefty. In my opinion, piracy is part of the reason Windows Vista prices are so high. I am glad Microsoft is taking yet another stand and they’re cracking down on these WGA exploits so maybe I could buy the basic version, at the very least.

I will be keeping my eyes peeled on those Vista forums to check out the user feedback from the new service pack. Hopefully their praises will convince me to buy it knowing that it’s better than the original version.

VIA Ars Technica