Vista has had a hard time in the media since its launch. Whether it was receiving some justifiably harsh criticism from technology publications or some mildly amusing advertisements from long-time competitor Apple Computer, Vista has had an image problem.
Naturally, most of Vista’s reputation was due to Microsoft launching a product that had two major problems. One, it didn’t work well. Two, it didn’t work exactly like its predecessor, the very popular and efficient Windows XP.
The Vista operating system was a massive undertaking with the emphasis by Microsoft to create a much more stable platform for current and future computing endeavors. But, releasing an operating system which didn’t clearly improve the computing experience (maybe that’s why they dropped the XP name) from the user’s point of view left most of those users cold. Add the poor performance issues due to rewriting the way the operating system interfaces with most equipment (drivers) and you have a recipe for market disappointment.
Fast forward from early 2007 to the second quarter of 2009 when Microsoft releases SP2 for Windows Vista to the general public. For those of you who remember the old adage about new Microsoft products, “Wait until the third version and they’ll have it figured out.”, Vista is no exception. The third release of Windows Vista (Launch, SP1, SP2) and the 348MB download offer the following:
- Improves Power Management Efficiency by 10%
- Fixes Wi-Fi Issues when Vista Wakes from Sleep Mode
- Improves Bluetooth and Blu-ray Support
- Fixes Almost 700 Nagging Bugs and Security Issues
Is it now time to give Vista its due? Let’s hope. According to sources at Microsoft, there are great similarities in the code for both Windows Vista SP2 and Windows 7. In any event, improving Vista’s image starts with better performance and that seems to be a distinct possibility with Vista SP2.
