Vista updates to address 'big' issues

Microsoft is said to be working on updates that may address some of the most common complaints about Windows Vista, without requiring the highly-anticpated Service Pack 1. According to sources at nV News, testers in the Windows Server 2008 beta are eligible to download early versions of new "Performance and Reliability" and "Compatibility and Reliability" packs, for both the 32- and 64-bit editions of Vista. The former should improve speeds when copying large file folders, an issue that has made Vista problematic for many modern computing demands. It should also reduce the time needed to reach the Login screen from Hibernate.

The Compatibility pack may be most important to gamers and others users of intense graphics, since it should increase compatability with a number of video drivers, and recent cards "in several specific scenarios and configurations." Likewise, games with "high intensity graphics" should receive visual improvements, along with Blu-Ray and HD DVD movies viewed on larger displays. Entering and exiting sleep mode is said to be faster and more reliable.

It had been expected that these changes would only come with the first, cumulative Service Pack for Vista, which is due in 2008. Sales of the operating system have slowed considerably however since its debut in late January however, and now average approximately 10 million per month. This may be prompting Microsoft into making the software a safer proposition.