News, news, news..

Unlike XP’s SP2, this service pack offers mainly under-the-hood changes

Source: ComputerWorld
Written by Preston Gralla

October 01, 2007  (Computerworld) — Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1), just delivered to a group of approximately 12,000 beta testers, offers no dramatic interface changes, nor does it add new features to the operating system. Instead SP1 focuses on improving performance, reliability and application compatibility, and it extends support to emerging hardware such as the exFAT file system that will be used by flash memory storage and consumer devices. However, SP1 does change the way Windows search works, allowing third-party programs such as Google Desktop Search to integrate more easily into the operating system. (See Computerworld review.)

Microsoft plans to release the final version of SP1 in the first quarter of 2008.

Those who hoped that SP1 would introduce new features or interface improvements, as was done with Windows XP SP2, will be disappointed. David Zipkin, product manager for Vista SP1, said that the company’s goal has been to focus on operating system improvements rather than on interface changes or new features.

He added that Windows XP SP2 was an anomaly in that it made some significant changes to the way that Windows XP looked and worked. Those changes were made in response to emerging Internet threats, he said. Vista SP1, he said, is a return to a more traditional Microsoft approach towards service packs — that they should focus on performance and reliability rather than on new features.

Many corporate customers appear to be waiting for SP1 to ship before they move to Vista, and when the service pack ships, it may boost Vista’s adoption rate, which many observers have called sluggish.

Read entire article

Original post by PSN Editorial Staff

Source: ZDNet
Written by Dawn Kawamoto
A European court dealt a severe blow to Microsoft’s competitive ambitions in Europe Monday by siding with regulators in an antitrust case against the company.
In its ruling, the Luxembourg-based Court of First Instance upheld European Commission claims that Microsoft abused its dominant position in the operating system market. Microsoft’s allies and competitors have been closely following the case since the Commission imposed antitrust sanctions against the company in early 2004.
The court’s decision is expected to have far-reaching implications for consumers, computer makers, Microsoft competitors and, perhaps most pointedly, the Commission’s ability to regulate technology companies on antitrust matters, legal experts and industry observers say.
“The court ruling is…welcome for its confirmation of the Commission’s decision and its underlying policy, but nevertheless, it is bittersweet,” Neelie Kroes, the Commission’s Competition Commissioner, said during a press conference Monday. “Bittersweet because the court has confirmed the Commission’s view that […]

Original post by PSN Editorial Staff

Source: APC
Written by Angus Kidman
Computer makers have been told they’ll no longer be able to get Windows XP OEM by the end of this year, despite consumer resistance to Vista and its compatibility problems.
By early 2008, Microsoft’s contracts with computer makers will require companies to only sell Vista-loaded machines. “The OEM version of XP Professional goes next January,” said Frank Luburic, senior ThinkPad product manager for Lenovo. “At that point, they’ll have no choice.”
Despite Microsoft’s relentless promotion of Vista, manufacturers are still seeing plenty of demand from customers for systems preloaded with XP, especially in the finicky SOHO market.
Read entire article

Original post by PSN Editorial Staff

Source: InformationWeek
Written By Paul McDougall
Users of Adobe Systems’ digital publishing products, including Photoshop, InDesign, and Dreamweaver, will have to shell out for new versions of the software if they want to run them without glitches on Microsoft’s new Windows Vista operating system, Adobe says.
According to a statement posted on Adobe’s Web site, the company “does not plan to issue updates to current versions of those products for Windows Vista compatibility.”
That means users will have to pay hundreds of dollars to upgrade their Adobe software if they want trouble-free performance on Windows Vista, which is now preinstalled in virtually all new PCs shipping in the United States. That’s because the current versions of most of Adobe’s major products won’t work properly on the new operating system.
Read entire article

Original post by PSN Editorial Staff