BANGALORE, INDIA: Windows Vista has been around for more than a year now. Be that as it may, many people wait for the first service pack to come out for almost all Microsoft products before they go ahead and try something new. Well, they need not wait any more– the much awaited Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is now available for MSDN and TechNet subscribers. The install process can happen in two ways. When released as a Windows Update, it will download a small stub that will inspect your computer and download only those components that require an update. This will of course be a much smaller download.

However, network administrators might want to download the full install file – a little bigger than 700 MB – if they want to deploy it to multiple machines and save bandwidth at the same time. The download file is also available in two editions – one for 32-bit machines and another for 64-bit machines – both supporting multiple languages.

As my notebook is running Vista Ultimate 64-bit edition, I selected the 64-bit version for download. Once downloaded, running the installer brought up the first screen telling me what all I should take care of before starting the installation. The usual stuff about closing all programs, stopping any Anti Virus applications, and taking backups are displayed if you want to. I'd advise you to follow all instructions carefully.

Once ready, accept the EULA in the next step and get ready to install the SP1. You can choose to automatically reboot at the end of each stage as well.

Next starts the main installation part. Here, files are extracted and copied onto the file system. Ensure that you have enough space on the system drive during the installation as it requires quite a bit of space to expand (although you do not require it once the installation is complete).

Once the files are extracted, the system will reboot and come back to the login screen area. However, you will be unable to login as there will be a message stating that Service Pack installation is in progress and there are 3 stages to this part.

In Stage 1, the system updates a number of files, all the while showing you a percentage of work done. Once stage 1 completes, a part of Stage 2 also starts till about 8%, after which the system reboots again and goes into console mode and updates a huge number of files and registry entries. However, this part finishes much sooner than you expect.

The first install screen lets you see a list of things you should do before you start the install process	You need to go past the EULA to continue
Turn on Automatic Reboots to ensure that the SP gets installed automatically	The installation process can take 30 mins or more depending on your hardware and Vista edition
Once installed, the system will confirm the status of the SP install in the System Properties window

Finally the system reboots again and Stage 3 begins and ends quickly enough after which you are immediately shown the login window. Enter your password and you are greeted by a simple install success message. You can go over to the System Properties window of Control Panel and verify that Service Pack 1 is listed as installed.

So what are the differences in experience after installing Service Pack 1? For one, you might initially feel that applications open a little slower than before. This is expected since the Service Pack removes all settings for applications stored under SuperFetch – the component responsible for speeding up application load and handling. In a couple of days, you'll notice that the speed is back to previous levels if not a little faster.

There are a few changes overall for UAC and the prompts are less annoying in some places. File copy is also improved in certain circumstances and is snappier. IIS is now aligned with the IIS 7 code Windows Server 2008. Power management is much better and can lead to faster bootups, shutdowns, sleeps and resumes.

A huge number of peripherals and devices are now supported out of the box including wireless-n and others. For a full list of changes, you should download the file named, 'Notable Changes in Windows Vista SP1' from Microsoft.

Overall, this is a highly recommended update for your Vista machine and at the time of writing this piece, SP1 is available for MSDN and TechNet subscribers with broad availability around the middle of March. So get ready to download and install this update.