service pack

Although most people have been singing Microsoft's praises for the release of much-beloved Halo 3, computer junkies are still hankering for some good 'ol PC love. Not to be overshadowed by the final trilogy in the Halo universe, Microsoft has ... announced a few juicy details on operating system news, the juiciest being beta testing for Vista Service Pack 1. The Redmond-based company recently announced it had released the beta version of the very first Service Pack for Windows Vista to some 12,000 testers. That's a week or two late, considering in August it stated plans to begin testing within a ... (view more)

As recently reported by senior editor Brandon Dimmel, Microsoft has officially announced information about Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) and is reportedly scheduled to release it sometime in the first quarter of 2008. The official Vista white ... paper from the Windows Vista Blog offers some information about SP1. The white paper notes that "organizations do not need to wait for SP1 to deploy Windows Vista; they are encouraged to begin their Windows Vista evaluation and deployment now." Irregardless of the usual Microsoft epitomical marketing and explanations of the benefits and tradeoffs of ... (view more)

After spending months denying that there even was a Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1), Microsoft will be rushing out the first Vista SP1 beta around the middle of July. After agreeing to change the search feature in Vista due to complaints by Google and ... leading everyone to believe the first beta of SP1 for Vista wouldn't be released until near or after the first of the year, it now appears that Microsoft is attempting to get the final version of Vista SP1 out around November 2007. There is also a lot of widespread speculation that Vista SP1 is being rolled out in an effort to encourage Vista ... (view more)

Microsoft has admitted that many customers are reluctant to switch to Windows Vista because of its sub par reputation, and the company is now trying to convince customers that there is no need to worry. In a newsletter, Microsoft said, "some ... customers may be waiting to adopt Windows Vista because they've heard rumors about device or application compatibility issues, or because they think they should wait for a service pack release." Although Microsoft will be releasing a Service Pack later this year, the company is anxious for users to adopt the new operating system now. (Source: slashdot.org ... (view more)

Intel, who has not benefited from expected boosts in sales after the Microsoft Windows Vista launch, has decided not to upgrade its PCs to Vista until the first service pack has been released. Once the service pack is released, Intel says they will ... still hold off on a full Vista roll-out. (Source: PC Advisor UK ) "I know of no organization that is going to adopt it before Service pack 1 is out -- that's in the second half of this year -- and that includes us. Starting in the second half of this year we'll do a modest deployment, and continue into next year. That's the large company approach ... (view more)

A recent email memo leaked to APC Magazine revealed that Microsoft is already hard at work on Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1). Microsoft sent out emails to customers and partners to test and provide feedback on (SP1) to help prepare for it's ... release in the second half of 2007. In comparison, it took 11 months after the release of Windows XP for Microsoft to rollout the first service pack. Specific details of the changes (codenamed "Fiji") have not been released by Microsoft yet. Microsoft claims that regressions from Windows Vista and Windows XP (specifically: security, deployment blockers ... (view more)

Just as Microsoft releases one of its most anticipated products of this season (Internet Explorer 7), the Redmond-based company has announced the delay of an important update for the Windows XP operating system -- XP Service Pack 3 (SP3). Even ... though Windows Vista is planned for mass release in November 2006 (business and corporate versions) and January 2007 (home editions), XP Service Pack 3 will not be officially launched until at least 2008. And now that the bomb has been dropped, speculation has begun. When XP SP2 was released in 2004, the last Service Pack essentially acted as a whole ... (view more)

According to the Microsoft Support Lifecycle, Windows XP Service Pack 1 (SP1) and Service Pack 1a (SP1a) on will reach its end of life on October 10, 2006. This is a significant announcement as this will also end any further security updates for ... anyone using these service packs; subsequently, any computer using SP1 or earlier will be at risk for exploits. (Source: sysadmin.it ) If you are still running SP1 or SP1a, it is recommended that you upgrade to Windows XP Service Pack 2 as soon as possible. How to Determine Which Service Pack is Installed on your System To determine which service pack ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Chris K. writes: " Dear Dennis, My computer has so many popup blockers installed that my web pages won't display properly. For example: if I click a link on a web site that opens a new Browser Window, the page is blocked. As far ... as I understand, popup blockers are a part of my antivirus program, my firewall, my DSL connection (through Yahoo and SBC), and even Mozilla Firefox has one. I suspect there may be other popup blockers installed on my machine as years have gone by. My question is: how do I know which popup blockers to remove, yet keep my computer safe from ... (view more)

wiredNews.com is reporting that an anti-phishing tool (currently only available in the beta stage of Internet Explorer version 7 ) will be available to all Windows XP Service Pack 2 users before the full release of IE7. Here's the full story: " ... Microsoft Corp. will soon make available to the general public a tool for warning users about 'phishing' scams that could lead to identity theft. Currently, such a tool comes only with the Internet Explorer 7 browser, which is available in tests only to a select group of developers. But within a few weeks, Microsoft will incorporate it into a ... (view more)