Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2) has been released to the masses as of the early hours of this morning. It’s been a long time coming and long expected.
The update is available for both 32bit and 64bit machines, with the full pack somewhere between 348MB to 577MBs depending on how good you have been able keeping your machine up to date. Much of the pack does already contain updates that have already been made available. If you are a happy Windows Updater then much of SP2 won’t need to be downloaded and installed.
Of the updates included here are some of the highlights:
- Windows Search 4.0 (currently available for SP1 systems as a standalone update)
- Improves audio and video performance for streaming high-definition content
- Improved support for resuming with active Wi-Fi connections
- Feature Pack for Wireless adds support for Bluetooth 2.1
- Windows Feature Pack for Storage enables the data recording onto Blu-ray media
- Windows Connect Now (WCN) to simplify Wi-Fi configuration
- Improves Windows Media Center (WMC) in content protection for TV
The update is available either through the Microsoft Download Center (32-bit version (normal) or 64-bit version) or through Windows Update (under the start menu). In Windows Update it is considered an optional update rather than an automatic update at this stage.
The download will take somewhere in the region of 20 mins to 40 mins to download, and then a further 20 (odd!) minutes to install – again dependant on how often you have updated in the past. Once you have started the download it will then confirm that you want to install it now and then. Other than that you don’t have to sit and watch it go through its paces.
Having installed Vista SP2 myself, I can confirm that one big improvement was noticed straight away – The BBC iPlayer in BBC HD programmes ran smoothly, previously they were jumpy and difficult to watch. BIG thumbs up for this update!
Issues reported:
None so far.
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