Finally, Microsoft has honored their promise of SP1, and it ushers in a startling amount of changes. I would have posted the release notes here, but they are several pages long and can be found here instead. The pack, weighing in at 434.5MB (or 726.5MB for the 64-bit version), rolls in 23 security updates and 550 hotfixes. Apparently the update is taking its sweet time showing up, and if you cannot wait to download it, here are the direct links:

• Windows Vista Service Pack 1 x86 (32-Bit/Normal)
• Windows Vista Service Pack 1 x64

In the way of changes, Microsoft says SP1 will bring “. . . improvements that address many key pieces of customer feedback, especially in the areas of performance and reliability.” Release note highlights after the break.

• 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

If they haven’t already, Vista users need to first install three prerequisite updates before installing SP1, which makes Microsoft’s latest client OS more aligned with its server offering.

Currently, the service pack is only available to users running English, French, German, Japanese and Spanish versions of Windows Vista. The other 31 language versions (both the actual service pack and the language packs for Ultimate users) are on their way, with an early-April date being bandied about for the full SP1 language spectrum. Furthermore, all language versions of SP1 will reportedly be pushed automatically through Windows Update on or after April 18, for those that have set the built-in Windows Update client in Vista to automatically download and install updates.

Even if this pack does not cause that many changes, I personally believe that Vista sales can only go up from here, without of course some unforeseen problem. Releasing this service pack shows some amount of commitment to Microsoft’s product from the company and people will see that as a reason to buy. When Vista came out, I told myself I’d wait until SP1 to buy it, and although things have changed since then, I know I’ll be forced to buy it sometime soon when this causes the domino effect of companies. As more businesses and people buy it, it will grow exponentially until older software is phased out, that is just the way the business works. In my opinion, by the time Microsoft does something useful with Vista, Windows 7 will already be out. Just waiting for my DX10 for XP, Microsoft. Cross your fingers for SP3, fellow skeptics.

Will you buy Vista because of this release? Elaborate in the comments.