Windows Vista SP1 ready to download

It's finally here: Windows Vista, Service Pack 1, is ready for your earnest consumption. Get it while it's hot!

How do you get it? All you need to do is point your Vista machine to Windows Update (it's in the Start menu, or you can find it in Internet Explorer under the Tools menu), and follow the prompts. Automatic updates probably won't auto-install SP1 for you. (Originally Microsoft said it would not be automatically pushed until mid-April, but Microsoft is suggesting now that in some cases that might not be the case.) If you don't see SP1 in the download menu on Windows Update, check the System control panel: You may already have it installed.

However, for many of you, I expect SP1 may not show up in Windows Update or as already installed, leaving you scratching your head as to where it is. Chances are you are one of the millions of users affected by SP1's previously-announced incompatibility with a handful of device drivers (scroll down to "Method for Cause 5" for the full list). Microsoft is playing the issue down, but unfortunately, those device drivers are very common, including five major audio drivers and one major video driver. In fact, my primary Vista machine falls into this category: It won't download SP1 because of an incompatibility with the onboard audio system, and no driver update is available for the machine for the time being. Lame! I've chosen to leave it sans-SP1, at least for now, rather than disable the audio altogether. For what it's worth, Microsoft says new drivers are in the works, but I'll believe it when I see it.

If you don't see SP1 in Windows Update and you know you don't have a driver conflict, you can download the installer directly here. Tread with caution.

In other news, I've tried SP1 on other Vista computers without these driver issues and it installs without complaint. I haven't noticed much difference in responsiveness or stability so far, but that doesn't mean there aren't improvements working behind the scenes. Other reviews have been mixed.