Windows 7 SP1 is out • Hacker News Board

Re: Windows 7 SP1 is out

#41

Post by mrcharles » Tue, Feb 22, 2011, 11:39 PM UTC

sliverstorm wrote: post #34

Qz wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just did the same and somehow ended up back at the page linked to in this submission... edit: okay, just got to the same document you did. Apparently microsoft considers 'release notes' to be 'notes about the process of releasing' which that document will have when there are any, rather than notes about the release itself, aka the Service Pack. There is another file on that link called 'Notable Changes in Windows 7…

Seeing as these are not major notable changes, what seems most likely? 1) They released a SP as a milestone because it was 'about time' 2) They released a SP as a rollup to bring everyone to the same page 3) They need to push the HDMI audio updates extra hard...?

More likely they just hit a limit for hotfixes, and do a rollup because they'll do a reprint of the DVDs as well, so that new systems come without needing 200 hotfixes.

Re: Windows 7 SP1 is out

#42

Post by junkbit » Tue, Feb 22, 2011, 11:43 PM UTC

maxxxxx wrote: post #24

pero wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hardly boring. Updating provided me with adventure of traversing the clusterfuck that is the Dell website and re-discovering all kinds of interesting drivers, only to be told they're 'not compatible with this version of Windows'.

I love Dell's site too.

For a companies that sells big iron servers the Dell, IBM and HP websites don't inspire confidence.

Re: Windows 7 SP1 is out

#43

Post by keyle » Tue, Feb 22, 2011, 11:53 PM UTC

Why is it that when OS X has a new update (version+1), I get excited, but when Windows has a new service pack, I shit my pants?

Re: Windows 7 SP1 is out

#44

Post by blinkingled » Tue, Feb 22, 2011, 11:54 PM UTC

AbnormalGun wrote: post #20

I have found Windows 7 to be a pretty good OS, I am happy to say. I just wish Microsoft would make the intergrated Windows 7 Install DVD ISOs available for download, like the do for MSDN and Technet, even if they charged a small fee for it.

What do you mean integrated? I bought Home Premium and Pro version from Microsoft online store and they did provide ISOs and even USB tool to put the ISO on flash drives.

Re: Windows 7 SP1 is out

#45

Post by kenjackson » Tue, Feb 22, 2011, 11:57 PM UTC

nailer wrote: post #38

jedsmith wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not by a mile. Windows 7 literally beats Vista to death -- it's a lot snappier and (to me, anyway) a lot more stable. Let's not forget that it actually runs in 512 MB of RAM, and I can attest to this. I'm an OS X guy by trade and employment, but Windows 7 I can actually tolerate (which blows my mind, really).

More stable = a service pack. UAC, WPF, etc - all the new stuff - was added in Vista.

There are a fair number of new features though, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Features_new_to_Windows_7

Re: Windows 7 SP1 is out

#46

Post by Groxx » Wed, Feb 23, 2011, 12:09 AM UTC

keyle wrote: post #43

Why is it that when OS X has a new update (version+1), I get excited, but when Windows has a new service pack, I shit my pants?

You drink laxatives heavily right before a new Windows service pack comes out? Maybe it's a form of prescience - you should see if you can use it to make money, somehow.

Re: Windows 7 SP1 is out

#47

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Feb 23, 2011, 12:16 AM UTC

blinkingled wrote: post #44

AbnormalGun wrote: post #20

I have found Windows 7 to be a pretty good OS, I am happy to say. I just wish Microsoft would make the intergrated Windows 7 Install DVD ISOs available for download, like the do for MSDN and Technet, even if they charged a small fee for it.

What do you mean integrated? I bought Home Premium and Pro version from Microsoft online store and they did provide ISOs and even USB tool to put the ISO on flash drives.

[deleted]

Re: Windows 7 SP1 is out

#48

Post by TillE » Wed, Feb 23, 2011, 12:18 AM UTC

Looks like it won't install (error code 0x800F0A12) if you have a different bootloader in the MBR. Bah. Can't be bothered to redo my whole Hackintosh setup.

Re: Windows 7 SP1 is out

#49

Post by xpaulbettsx » Wed, Feb 23, 2011, 12:22 AM UTC

Some highlights of Win7 SP1 that aren't in the main list (this isn't exhaustive, just what I can think of):

    * Support for new Nehalem processor instructions (AVX)
    * Many fixes for 512e and 4k-native disk drives
    * TS can now remote 3D primitives across the wire (we had a demo internally where we played Mass Effect 2 over remote desktop)
    * Better support for volumes > 2TB
    * Superfetch now detects if you have an SSD installed and disables itself
    * For devs, better crash reporting for 32-bit apps running on 64-bit OS (see http://is.gd/TaK9ZK for more info)

Re: Windows 7 SP1 is out

#50

Post by xpaulbettsx » Wed, Feb 23, 2011, 12:25 AM UTC

sliverstorm wrote: post #35

npalli wrote: post #21

Just installed SP1 on 64bit professional. Went smoothly in 20 mins. Freed up 7GB of diskspace on my SSD. Nice!

Now THIS is interesting. Seriously? Do you know where the fat was cut?

Once you install the SP, it can get rid of a lot of older binaries that were related to Windows Update (i.e. we have to keep around old versions in case you ever decide to uninstall anything)