Vista's second coming

What’s new
The content and scope of a Windows service pack varies greatly from service pack to service pack. Sometimes major new features are added, for example the Security Center introduced in Windows XP Service Pack 2, and sometimes deeper changes are made: Vista’s SP1 updated the Windows kernel code to bring it in line with that in Windows Server 2008.

Microsoft uses these service packs to deliver whatever changes it deems necessary. All you can be sure of is that you’ll get a raft of bug fixes, which will be incorporated into retail copies of Windows so you don’t have to go through the painful process of downloading hundreds of patches every time you do a re-install.

If you’ve been diligent in your regular visits to the Windows Update service, or allowed Windows to install updates automatically, you may already have a large number of these patches installed.

Over 400 previously available updates have been incorporated into SP2 –­ you can view the full list at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd335033.aspx. One of the main purposes of a service pack is to provide a one-step process for bringing a PC up to date with these updates.

SP2 also provides further compatibility improvements targeted at specific applications. For example, Zone Alarm and Spysweeper now work correctly when integrated with Pop3 email accounts.

For end users, there’s almost nothing new to see in Vista SP2. It’s all about improving the running of the operating system, with most new features restricted to hidden, under-the-hood updates aimed at developers and administrators.

A great deal of the content of SP2 is aimed primarily at Windows Server 2008 ­ – this now runs in parallel with Vista from a service pack point of view. The two operating systems share the same kernel and, thanks to Microsoft’s single serviceability model, can share service packs and updates.

This service pack will therefore install on both operating systems, although we’ll be concentrating here on those changes that affect Vista.

Remember, the service pack is still in beta, so there may yet be new features added that aren’t covered here.