From Microsoft: Service Pack 1 introduces support for some new hardware and software standards, notably the exFAT file system, 802.11n wireless networking, IPv6 over. Windows XP Service Pack 2: XP SP2 driver download. All the latest manufacturer's drivers available for free from Software Patch. Extensive database updated regularly. DEFAULT ~ What Bill G. The latest Windows Vista service pack is Service Pack 2 (SP2). If you don't have Windows Vista SP2 installed, or don't have a service pack installed at all, then you. Windows Vista Service Pack 2: Vista SP2 (final release) driver download. All the latest manufacturer's drivers available for free from Software Patch. Service Pack 2, the latest service pack for both Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista, supports new types of hardware and emerging hardware standards, includes. Windows Service Pack will not install on my Vista 32 bit desktop. I've downloaded and installed it several times (it shows successful installation and shows in update.

From Microsoft: Service Pack 1 introduces support for some new hardware and software standards, notably the exFAT file system, 802.11n wireless networking, IPv6 over. Windows XP Service Pack 2: XP SP2 driver download. All the latest manufacturer's drivers available for free from Software Patch. Extensive database updated regularly. DEFAULT ~ What Bill G. The latest Windows Vista service pack is Service Pack 2 (SP2). If you don't have Windows Vista SP2 installed, or don't have a service pack installed at all, then you. Windows Vista Service Pack 2: Vista SP2 (final release) driver download. All the latest manufacturer's drivers available for free from Software Patch. Service Pack 2, the latest service pack for both Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista, supports new types of hardware and emerging hardware standards, includes. Windows Service Pack will not install on my Vista 32 bit desktop. I've downloaded and installed it several times (it shows successful installation and shows in update.

Windows Server 2. Service Pack 2 and Windows Vista Service Pack 2. This article provides answers to common questions about this release of Windows Server 2.

Service Pack 2 and Windows Vista Service Pack 2. General. What is Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2.

Service Pack 2 for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista (SP2) is an update to Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 that supports new kinds of hardware and emerging.

SP2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2. Windows Vista and Windows Server 2.

For more information on the updates in SP2, see Hotfixes and Security Updates in Windows Server 2. SP2 and Windows Vista SP2. What is the language release schedule plan for SP2?

Microsoft will be releasing five languages (English, German, Spanish, French, and Japanese) in the first release and an additional 3. Are there any prerequisites for SP2? You must have Windows Vista with SP1 or Windows Server 2.

Service Pack 2. After accepting the End User License Agreement, SP2 installation will begin. SP2 will not install automatically. If you have configured Windows Update to automatically check for and download updates then it will download automatically and notify you when it is available for installation. Customers who wish to test SP2 for a longer period and would like to prevent SP2 from installing from AU can download and install the SP2 Blocking Tool at the Microsoft Download Center.

The tool will ensure SP2 is not offered from AU for 3. Organizations do not need to deploy the Blocker Toolkit in environments managed with an update management solution such as Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) or Systems Center. Organizations can use those products to fully manage deployment of updates released through Windows Update and Microsoft Update.

Will there be a Service Pack Blocker Tool offered for SP2? Yes, the current Windows Service Pack Blocker Toolkit works with SP2. For more information, see the overview information provided for the SP Blocker Tool here. Why does the SP2 installation require SP1 be installed first? There are a number of reasons for this, the primary one being the overall size of the standalone package for SP1.

Pre- RTM builds are not upgradeable. If you have not run the Service Pack cleanup tool after installing a pre- release version of SP2, you should be able to uninstall the pre- release version, and then do a full install of the released version. How will customers benefit from running SP2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2.

Organizations using SP2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2. What improvements can users expect from SP2 for Windows Server 2. Windows Vista? SP2 supports new types of hardware and emerging hardware standards and includes updates delivered since SP1. For more information, see Notable Changes in Windows Server 2.

SP2 and Windows Vista SP2. Will applications that run on Windows Vista or Windows Server SP1 work on Service Pack 2? Our goal is that all applications that run on SP1 are completely compatible with SP2, and we continue to work with ISVs toward this. Windows Vista. Is Vista SP1 quality not sufficient, requiring that you do another Service Pack so soon after releasing Service Pack 1?

Automated feedback (telemetry) provided by Microsoft’s Customer Experience Improvement program since launching Service Pack 1, indicates that Service Pack 1 is equal to or higher than nearly all dimensions of Windows XP Service Pack 2 baselines. You can use the integrated installation to upgrade computers running Windows XP and to perform clean installations on computers that do not have an operating system. The download size of the stand- alone package is larger than the package applied with Windows Update. This method is recommended for: 1) Applying Windows Vista SP2 to computers without (or with limited) Internet connectivity 2) Applying the service pack to more than one computer using deployment tools such as Systems Management Server 2.

SMS) or System Center Configuration Manager 2. Windows Vista SP1 is currently available, Windows 7 is on its way, and now Microsoft is talking about Windows Vista SP2? For customers who are in the early stages of the Windows Vista deployment cycle, we recommend they plan on testing and deploying Windows Vista SP2. Our goal with Windows 7 is that it will run on the same hardware as Windows Vista and that the applications and devices that work with Windows Vista will also be compatible with Windows 7. As a result, customers will be able to fully leverage their Windows Vista investments when they deploy Windows 7, and the transition to Windows 7 will be significantly more straightforward for having deployed Windows Vista. Does Windows Vista SP2 include Internet Explorer 8?

No, Internet Explorer 8 is not included in Windows Vista SP2. Are there any changes to the Windows Vista out- of- box- experience (OOBE) with SP2? No. I’ve heard that Windows Vista SP2 has a strong Windows Server 2. An update will be available for free download for existing installations of Windows Server 2.

The SP2 updates will be incorporated, or slipstreamed, into Windows Server 2. Does SP2 change the non- R2 machines to R2 SP2 machines?

No, it will not upgrade Windows Server 2. Windows Server 2.

R2. Windows Server 2. Service Packs required a lot of application testing? Should I expect the same from Windows Server 2. SP2? No, customers can expect a much simpler upgrade process with WS0. SP2. In some cases these security enhancements resulted in unexpected behavior from applications.

If you install SP2, you will not need to download Hyper- V RTM separately. How long will Windows Server 2. RTM be supported after SP2 releases? The Microsoft Support Lifecycle policy requires that the product’s supported service pack be installed to continue to receive support (including security updates). Service Pack Support Policy. Support for the previous service packs for Windows Server is 2. Support timelines for service packs will remain consistent within the product family.

Microsoft will publish specific support timelines for a previous service pack when the new service pack is released. When support for a product ends, support of the service packs for that product will also end. The product’s support lifecycle supersedes the service pack support policy. Are Windows Server 2. R2 and SP2 the same? No, Windows Server 2.

R2 is the next release of Windows Server. SP2 is a service pack for the current version of Windows 2.

Server. Does Windows Server 2. SP2 change the non- Windows Server 2. R2 machines to Windows Server 2. R2 SP2 machines? No, it will not upgrade Windows Server 2. Windows Server 2. R2. Can Windows Server 2.

SP2 be applied to a Windows Server 2. R2 machine? No. What is a single servicing model? Do Windows Vista and Windows Server 2. Single servicing means that both Windows Vista and Windows Server 2.

Windows Vista and Windows Server 2.

Windows Vista - Wikipedia. Windows Vista (codenamed Longhorn. Development was completed on 8 November 2. On 3. 0 January 2. It was succeeded by Windows 7, which was released to manufacturing on 2. July 2. 00. 9 and released worldwide for retail on 2.

October 2. 00. 9. New features of Windows Vista include an updated graphical user interface and visual style dubbed Aero, a new search component called Windows Search, redesigned networking, audio, print and display sub- systems, and new multimedia tools such as Windows DVD Maker. Vista aimed to increase the level of communication between machines on a home network, using peer- to- peer technology to simplify sharing files and media between computers and devices. Windows Vista included version 3. NET Framework, allowing software developers to write applications without traditional Windows APIs.

Microsoft's primary stated objective with Windows Vista was to improve the state of security in the Windows operating system. In light of this, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates announced in early 2. Criticism of Windows Vista has targeted its high system requirements, its more restrictive licensing terms, the inclusion of a number of, then, new DRM technologies aimed at restricting the copying of protected digital media, lack of compatibility with some pre- Vista hardware and software, longer boot time, and the number of authorization prompts for User Account Control. As a result of these and other issues, Windows Vista had seen initial adoption and satisfaction rates lower than Windows XP. It was originally expected to ship sometime late in 2. Windows XP and Blackcomb, which was planned to be the company's next major operating system release. Gradually, . In some builds of Longhorn, their license agreement said .

Many of Microsoft's developers were also re- tasked to build updates to Windows XP and Windows Server 2. Faced with ongoing delays and concerns about feature creep, Microsoft announced on 2. August 2. 00. 4, that it had revised its plans. For this reason, Longhorn was reset to start work on componentizing the Windows Server 2. Service Pack 1 codebase, and over time re- incorporating the features that would be intended for an actual operating system release. However, some previously announced features such as Win.

FS were dropped or postponed, and a new software development methodology called the Security Development Lifecycle was incorporated in an effort to address concerns with the security of the Windows codebase, which is programmed in C, C++ and assembly. Longhorn became known as Vista in 2.

During this period, Microsoft was fairly quiet about what was being worked on, as their marketing and public relations focus was more strongly focused on Windows XP, and Windows Server 2. April 2. 00. 3. Occasional builds of Longhorn were leaked onto popular file sharing networks such as IRC, Bit.

Torrent, e. Donkey and various newsgroups, and so most of what is known about builds prior to the first sanctioned development release of Longhorn in May 2. After several months of relatively little news or activity from Microsoft with Longhorn, Microsoft released Build 4. Internet around 2.

February 2. 00. 3. As an evolutionary release over build 3. An optional . The incorporation of the Plex theme made blue the dominant color of the entire application.

The Windows XP- style task pane was almost completely replaced with a large horizontal pane that appeared under the toolbars. A new search interface allowed for filtering of results, searching of Windows help, and natural- language queries that would be used to integrate with Win. FS. The animated search characters were also removed. File metadata was also made more visible and more easily editable, with more active encouragement to fill out missing pieces of information. Also of note was the conversion of Windows Explorer to being a . NET application. Most builds of Longhorn and Vista were identified by a label that was always displayed in the bottom- right corner of the desktop.

A typical build label would look like . Higher build numbers did not automatically mean that the latest features from every development team at Microsoft was included. Typically, a team working on a certain feature or subsystem would generate their own working builds which developers would test with, and when the code was deemed stable, all the changes would be incorporated back into the main development tree at once. At Microsoft, a number of . The name of the lab in which any given build originated is shown as part of the build label, and the date and time of the build follows that.

Some builds (such as Beta 1 and Beta 2) only display the build label in the version information dialog (Winver). The icons used in these builds are from Windows XP. At the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (Win. HEC) in May 2. 00.

Microsoft gave their first public demonstrations of the new Desktop Window Manager and Aero. The demonstrations were done on a revised build 4.

A number of sessions for developers and hardware engineers at the conference focused on these new features, as well as the Next- Generation Secure Computing Base (previously known as . Also at this conference, Microsoft reiterated their roadmap for delivering Longhorn, pointing to an .

Internally, some Microsoft employees were describing the Longhorn project as . It offered only a limited subset of features planned for Longhorn, in particular fast file searching and integrated graphics and sound processing, but appeared to have impressive reliability and performance compared to contemporary Longhorn builds. Allchin went on to explain how in December 2.

Brian Valentine and Amitabh Srivastava, the former being experienced with shipping software at Microsoft, most notably Windows Server 2. Future Longhorn builds would start from Windows Server 2. Service Pack 1 and continue from there. This change, announced internally to Microsoft employees on 2. August 2. 00. 4, began in earnest in September, though it would take several more months before the new development process and build methodology would be used by all of the development teams. A number of complaints came from individual developers, and Bill Gates himself, that the new development process was going to be prohibitively difficult to work within. As Windows Vista.

By approximately November 2. In the end, Microsoft chose Windows Vista as confirmed on 2. July 2. 00. 5, believing it to be a . That's what Windows Vista is all about: . In September of that year, Microsoft started releasing regular Community Technology Previews (CTP) to beta testers from July 2. February 2. 00. 6.

The first of these was distributed at the 2. Microsoft Professional Developers Conference, and was subsequently released to beta testers and Microsoft Developer Network subscribers. The builds that followed incorporated most of the planned features for the final product, as well as a number of changes to the user interface, based largely on feedback from beta testers. Windows Vista was deemed feature- complete with the release of the . Beta 2, released in late May, was the first build to be made available to the general public through Microsoft's Customer Preview Program. It was downloaded by over five million people.

Two release candidates followed in September and October, both of which were made available to a large number of users. The UEFI 2. 0 specification (which replaces EFI 1. Microsoft's announcement, no firmware manufacturers had completed a production implementation which could be used for testing. As a result, the decision was made to postpone the introduction of UEFI support to Windows; support for UEFI on 6. Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2.

UEFI would not be supported, as Microsoft does not expect many such systems to be built as the market moves to 6. Because a release to manufacturing (RTM) build is the final version of code shipped to retailers and other distributors, the purpose of a pre- RTM build is to eliminate any last . Thus, it is unlikely that any major new features would be introduced; instead, work would focus on Vista's .

In just a few days, developers had managed to drop Vista's bug count from over 2. September to just over 1. RC2 shipped in early October. However, they still had a way to go before Vista was ready to RTM. Microsoft's internal processes required Vista's bug count to drop to 5. RTM. During a demonstration of the speech recognition feature new to Windows Vista at Microsoft's Financial Analyst Meeting on 2.

July 2. 00. 6, the software recognized the phrase . After several failed attempts to correct the error, the sentence eventually became . On 1. 6 November 2. Microsoft made the final build available to MSDN and Technet Plus subscribers. Laptop users report, however, that enabling Aero shortens battery life.

A search box appears in every Explorer window. The address bar has been replaced with a breadcrumb navigation bar. Icons of certain file types in Windows Explorer are . The preview pane allows users to see thumbnails of various files and view the contents of documents. The details pane shows information such as file size and type, and allows viewing and editing of embedded tags in supported file formats. The Start menu has changed as well; incorporating an instant search box, and the All Programs list uses a horizontal scroll bar instead of the cascading flyout menu seen in Windows XP.

Gadgets can also be placed on the desktop. IE7 in Windows Vista runs in isolation from other applications in the operating system (protected mode); exploits and malicious software are restricted from writing to any location beyond Temporary Internet Files without explicit user consent. Windows Media Player 1. Microsoft's program for playing and organizing music and video. New features in this version include word wheeling (incremental search or .