Just three days after releasing it to approximately 15,00 beta testers, Microsoft has made the Vista SP1 RC Refresh publicly available. It can be downloaded here, but any previous versions of the service pack must be removed before installing this one. For details of the changes included with Vista SP1, visit this site.

On January 9th Microsoft made availble the latest pre-release build of SP1 - 'Windows Vista SP1 RC Refresh' - to approximately 15,000 beta testers. This group includes corporate customers, consumer enthusiasts, software and hardware vendors, and others. The code is not available for public download.

We are still on schedule to deliver SP1 RTM in Q1 CY08. The final release date is based on quality, so we will continue to track customer and partner feedback from the beta program before setting a final date.

While Microsoft is putting their PR people to work showing the superiority of Vista to XP, Microsoft Watch is doing their part in educating the public on the other side of things. According to Microsoft Watch, you should not be listening to Microsoft, and know that Vista didn't too very well this year. Here are their reasons why, in order from most to least important. Please follow the source link for the reasons in greater detail.

• Windows XP stayed in the market too long; everything was built for XP and not ready for Vista.
• No compelling reason to upgrade from XP
• User Interface changes made Vista seem overly complex
• Bad timing; most sales occur between Thanksgiving and Christmas of any given year
• Too many people were in charge of designing Vista
• People were not ready for Vista
• Advertising campaign was confusing, and stopped as abruptly as it started.
• No obvious link between Office 2007 and Windows Vista
• Legal issues with the US Department of Justice and the EU.
• Way too many versions.

Despite Microsoft initially blaming disappointing sales figures on software pirates, the company's Vice President of Windows Product Marketing, Michael Sievert, has now claimed that the piracy rate for Windows Vista is actually half that of XP. In an interview, he said:

While piracy rates are hard to measure precisely, we're seeing indications from internal metrics, like WGA validation failures, that the Windows Vista piracy rate is less than half that of Windows XP today.

Unsurprisingly, Microsoft is putting this down to the fact that Vista is harder to counterfeit. However, some analysts are suggesting that it may be linked to the fact that even pirates expect a stable operating system, and perhaps they choose to use Windows XP over Vista for reasons such as that rather than because they lack the means to pirate it. Of course, another explanation could be that software pirates have actually found a way to counterfeit Windows without being detected, which would also account for the lower rate of WGA validation failures.

Microsoft has released yet another poor VGA performance patch. The Symptoms: in some scenarios, games and benchmarks perform more poorly than expected on a Windows Vista-based computer. This issue occurs when the games and the benchmarks use multiple display adapters in a Linked Display Adapter (LDA) configuration. A graphics processing unit (GPU) or part of a GPU link may incur a small scheduling latency on a new Direct Memory Access (DMA) packet. This is true if the DMA packet is submitted to the GPU that has previously run out of work and if another GPU in the linked configuration is very busy. In some scenarios, significant starvation of one or more GPUs in the linked configuration reduces the expected performance of an application. Dated December 3, 2007 more information for the hotfix including download link can be found here.

Windows Vista could be hit by more than 40 security vulnerabilities next year, as its market share increases to the point where hackers start to take notice, according to a McAfee analyst. "Most of the current malware has ignored Vista," said Craig Schmugar, a threat researcher at McAfee's Avert Lab, but that's not because the operating system has been secure. Concisely, we reported on Monday that Windows Vista nears 8% market share which means hackers will soon start to write more and more malicious software for the DX10 OS as it becomes more popular.

As Vista gains in adoption, it then impacts malware authors and forces them to focus attention on finding vulnerabilities, or to alter their social engineering techniques to accommodate it

Schmugar said.

We've been hearing about the latest service packs from Microsoft for some time, but until recently, there have been no mentions as to how either performs. An independent researcher took test versions of both Windows Vista SP1 and Windows XP SP3 and pitted them against each other. What he found was astounding, to say the least. Vista SP1 at most points was no faster than the release version, and in some cases was twice as slow. However, XP SP3 was able to claim a very hefty performance boost from Vista SP1, and even XP SP2. If the beta performance carries over to the final versions, Microsoft will be making quite a pretty penny off of XP SP3, considering the massive performance gains seen at this time. Have a look at this very telling benchmark chart (Officebench, in seconds, less time is better).

Microsoft Corp. today announced revenue of $13.76 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2007, a 27% increase over the same period of the prior year. Operating income, net income and diluted earnings per share for the quarter were $5.92 billion, $4.29 billion and $0.45, respectively.

"This fiscal year is off to an outstanding start with the fastest revenue growth of any first quarter since 1999," said Chris Liddell, chief financial officer at Microsoft. "Operating income growth of over 30% also reflects our ability to translate revenue into profits while making strategic investments for the future."

Following the DirectX 9.0C November patch, Microsoft has also released a new update for Windows Vista that improves the compatibility, reliability, and stability of the OS. Download links for Vista 32-bit and Vista 64-bit.

While some current Linux users got Linux to escape from their perceived problems with Vista, other Linux users are attracted to Linux because of Vista-like features. The developers behind Vixta are banking on the latter. While the SourceForge project is hardly ready to compete with Vista on a competitive scale, it certainly is gaining momentum. Vixta is based on the Fedora core of Linux, and has five goals in mind. Vixta must...

• Be Absolutely free, in every sense.
• Spread Linux to the "masses".
• Not require any advanced configuration.
• Be User-Friendly.
• Be Eye-catching, and have a familiar look and feel.

Microsoft yesterday released a new hotfix, KB941649, which improves the compatibility, reliability, and stability of Windows Vista. This update includes the following improvements:

• It extends the battery life for mobile devices.
• It improves the stability of portable computers and of desktop computers that use an uninterruptable power supply (UPS).
• It improves the reliability of Windows Vista when you open the menu of a startup application.
• It improves the stability of Internet Explorer when you open a Web page.
• It improves the stability of wireless network services.
• It shortens the startup time of Windows Vista by using a better timing structure.
• It shortens the recovery time after Windows Vista experiences a period of inactivity.
• It shortens the recovery time when you try to exit the Photos screen saver.
• It improves the stability of Windows PowerShell.

DOWNLOAD

In contrast to the previous testing program, Microsoft recently released the most up-to-date code of its operating system to a small, hand-picked selection of people. SP1 is designed to enhance current features found in Vista, rather than add new ones. Among the most noticeable improvements to Vista in SP1:

• Overall performance has increased markedly.
• Several stability issues have been fixed
• Network compatibility/speed has been tweaked

There is no word as to whether or not there will be a public version of this update. Anyone who has been chosen as a beta tester will most likely get the update through Windows Update.

Some Internet service providers (ISPs) in Europe use Linux machines to distribute service. A small-town company in Sweden did just that. However, this led to a problem when the servers met Windows Vista customers. The ISP blames a bug in Windows Vista for the inability of Vista users to connect to the internet (possibly related to Vista sending out Internet Packet requests in IPv4 and IPv6 at the same time?).

Microsoft says they would probably be able to fix the problem if Lund officials would get in touch with them.

One of the major changes between the Windows Genuine Advantage software found in Windows XP and the version found in Windows Vista is the Vista's version's ability to "phone home". Unfortunately, this caused a disaster when a bunch of copies which did "phone home" recently phoned a faulty server. And so, what did hundreds, perhaps thousands, of legitimate Vista copies do? Flag themselves as pirated, and dip into "reduced functionality mode". Most of the victims were none too pleased at this. A common feeling of most of the users:

This is inexcusable, I am not a software pirate, I paid good money for both my copies of Vista, and due to poorly implemented anti-piracy measures, I am prevented from using my own PC!

It appears that players are having problems after reinstalling BioShock a few times. BioShock is using Sony's anti-piracy SecuROM which contacts them with your hardware specifications. SecuROM's website states "Only legitimate customers who have purchased the product are able to unlock the program which is bound to the hardware after activation. This ensures that once activated, it cannot be transferred to another PC and therefore not being mass pirated." Players are reporting after installing the game more than two times will stop the installation process. So not only is it being bounded to your current hardware. It will also lock you out after too many installs.

IGN has released some videos for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. They are located in the PC section, but are marked with 360. So it makes it hard to say on which version they are showing. In one of the videos it states that the PC and PS3 version will be identical to each other. The game its self looks very promising, and could bring a lot fun to FPS fans when it is released.

You can check out the videos here.Source/Videos: IGN

CAPCOM is about to release a few updates for Lost Planet on August the 16th. Two of these updates have been known for a while, but now it seems that two more updates are also being added. One of them is called enhanced DX10 depth of field. Which will give you a better illusion of depth perception. The second update is a new default messages system that will be added for multiplayer, lobby, and after a match.

The market recently discovered a potential security vulnerability that could impact AMD's Catalyst software package. After immediate investigation, AMD determined that a small section of code from one of the files in our installer package is potentially vulnerable.
The AMD plan is to provide a new ATI Catalyst package no later than Monday, Aug. 13, 2007, that resolves this vulnerability. We strongly recommend that desktop ATI Radeon graphics users update to Catalyst version 7.8 once it is available here.

AMD and Microsoft are also investigating additional distribution channels for this update. This vulnerability was not exclusive to AMD.

An unpatched flaw in drivers from ATI creates a means to smuggle malware past improved security defences in the latest version of Windows and into the Vista kernel.

Microsoft is working with ATI on an update which security watchers warn might be far from straightforward to roll-out.

Things are still a little cloudy, so take this with a pinch of salt, but a number of Microsoft's software testers claim to have received an early version of the first service pack for Windows Vista. Apparently a few testers have given ZDNet a tipoff, although each tester has come forward with a different build number, which suggests that Microsoft could even be using them to track down anyone who gives away information about new features, but it's equally possible each tester is just running a different build. The screenshots below are from WinBeta and supposedly show a version of Vista with the service pack installed, although there is still very little which will be of interest to most people. The private beta had been rumoured for mid-July, with a public beta following soon afterwards and a final version coming as soon as November this year, although Microsoft has not given any official confirmation of this. Hopefully more information will become available soon, but it looks like the first service pack could be here soon.

It's no secret that as of late, Microsoft's Windows Vista isn't doing very well. Despite Microsoft claiming record sales figures, buyers have all too much negative feedback, which is severely affecting investors confidence in Microsoft. Steve Balmer, the CEO of Microsoft, recently had a figurative pep rally (Microsoft's annual financial analyst meeting)to regain investor confidence. Balmer first addressed investor confidence in Vista. "Vista doesn't get done by three people in a garage in three days," said Steve Ballmer. The company is making big bets, and some of them will take time to develop. "A great misconception in the tech industry is that most successes happen overnight," he said.

Steve Balmer then reminded investors of recent company successes that Microsoft intends to build on, which includes advertising and devices. "We are hell bent and determined to allocate the talent, resources, money, and innovation to become a powerhouse in the advertising business."

Consider the following scenario:

• You have a Windows Vista-based computer that uses a high-performance video card.
• This video card uses multiple graphics processing units (GPUs).

In this scenario, the computer's graphics performance seems to indicate that only a single GPU is being used. This problem occurs because the operating system does not forward driver-render requests to the secondary GPU. Microsoft issued today this hotfix (KB936710) which is strongly recomended for systems that are experiencing this specific problem. The patch applies to all Windows Vista 32/64-bit versions.


Hotfix KB936710 Microsoft SLI and CrossFire Windows Vista 32/64-bit

When Windows Vista was released, Microsoft touted it as the most advanced, best version of Windows yet. And so far, it has lived up to it's word. Unfortunately, Windows Vista has an enemy that even the brightest engineers at Microsoft could not combat: utter incompatibility with XP programs that developers can not move to Windows Vista, for reasons unknown. This incompatibility has recently brought XP back from the grave Microsoft might want to imagine XP falling into. Windows XP is now available in product lines from such powerful OEMs as HP, Dell, Lenovo, and Toshiba.

Looks like Vista's SP1 is coming a lot sooner than expected since Mary Jo Foley's reports that a Vista SP1 beta may already be tested among Microsoft's beta testing members around the globe thus we may be seeing SP1 at around November, or as vaguely described by Microsoft PR "sometime this year".
Chances are that we may get an even earlier gaze at SP1 on August 8th at Microsoft Australia's TechEd conference on the Gold Coast this year.

Creative has finally released full Vista-compatible drivers for some of its low-end sound cards. The new 1.04.0076 drivers are available for both 32-bit (63.39 MB) and 64-bit (63.39 MB) versions of Windows Vista, with support for Audigy Value, Audigy SE, Audigy LS, and Live! 24-bit sound cards. The new 1.04.0076 driver pack includes Creative's audio console, device control, EAX console and speaker settings control panels. Users can also adjust speaker configurations, audio output quality, S/PDIF sampling rate, sound effects, and Creative multi-speaker surround settings.