Following their public availability on Microsoft's Download Center, two hotfix packs for Windows Vista that improve performance and reliability are now available as optional downloads via Windows Update. They will not, however, be delivered automatically to Vista users.

Some of the changes offered by the updates include better file copy performance, faster boot times, improved compatibility with newer graphics cards, and better performance in games with advanced visuals. Those who do not want to install the fix packs manually can wait for Vista SP1, which is slated for public release early next year.

Now that Microsoft has set a release date for both the beta and final versions of Windows Vista Service Pack 1, the company is also offering a detailed look at what's being fixed and changed. One thing customers will not see is major changes to User Account Control, although Microsoft says it will reduce some pop-ups.

Perhaps the most notable change will not be for customers, but rather Microsoft partners. The company is including an API that third-party developers can tap into in order to work with kernel patch protection on x64 editions of Vista. This patch protection has proven to be a problem to antivirus and other security vendors.

In response to media coverage and pressure from partners, Microsoft finally opened up about Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Wednesday, detailing what customers should expect of the update, and setting a final release date of Q1 2008.

The gist is this: Vista SP1 will not bring major changes to the operating system, but instead deliver improvements related to reliability, security and performance. Customers will not see any major new features, and in turn, Microsoft says they should not wait for SP1 to begin deploying Vista.

Probably in response to a few users' bewilderment over the seemingly unrestricted accessibility of what had actually been one of Windows Vista's most requested new security tools, Group Policy Management Console, Microsoft announced today that the act of installing Vista Service Pack 1 will simply delete the tool altogether.

"Administrators requested features in Group Policy that simplify policy management," reads a white paper released by Microsoft this afternoon. "To do this, the service pack will uninstall the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) and GPEdit.msc will edit local Group Policy by default."

A curious network performance reduction noticed by many Windows Vista users of the 2CPU forum that became the talk of Slashdot last week has been identified as having been caused not by DRM, as Slashdot users expected, but by a curious prioritization "feature" of Vista that's intentionally biased toward Media Player at the expense of network and system resources.

The effects of this feature were first revealed last June, as BetaNews reported, by Microsoft security engineer Mark Russinovich.

The latest version of a well-reviewed third-party security policy enhancement system for Windows Vista claims to solve what its manufacturer characterizes as "not a secure solution" to a critical problem Windows historically had with administrator privileges on programs. But in the announcement of the upgrade earlier this week, a key Microsoft product manager is quoted as having acknowledged Vista's own take on the solution was not quite enough, effectively reversing his company's stand on User Account Control.

The product is BeyondTrust Privilege Manager 3.5, and its key new feature is the ability to run Vista's UAC transparently without prompting the user for privilege elevation. In Monday's press release, Microsoft director of client security product management Austin Wilson is quoted as not only endorsing the product, but appearing to agree with BeyondTrust's key contention: that the UAC prompts were not only a nag but an insecure solution in itself.

In a move that will likely only further confuse the situation surrounding Windows Vista Service Pack 1, Microsoft has posted for public download two updates that were released to beta testers last month. The patches improve Vista performance and reliability, along with the operating system's compatibility with drivers and hardware.

Some of the changes include better file copy performance, faster boot times, improved compatibility with newer graphics cards, and better performance in games with advanced visuals. The fixes are expected to be included in SP1, which is slated for public release next year. However, Microsoft has seemingly made them available early in response to criticism from customers surrounding Vista performance and reliability problems. Download the Vista Performance Update and Reliability Update from FileForum.

Aiming to curb piracy, Microsoft said it had slashed prices on its Windows Vista as much as 67 percent to encourage consumers to purchase genuine copies of its software. As of Wednesday, the price of its Home Basic edition dropped from $201 to $66, and Home Premium was reduced to $118 from $238. The company hopes that the move will continue the downtrend in piracy in the country.

Piracy rates are still high: in 2006, about 82 percent of all software used in China was pirated according to IDC. However, this was down from 86 percent the previous year. Some of the reduction could be due to a new policy in China that requires manufacturers to ensure that legally-obtained operating system software is installed at factories.

Microsoft has released to Windows Server 2008 beta testers two new hot-fix packs for Windows Vista, which improve performance and reliability, along with the operating system's compatibility with drivers and hardware. The 12MB worth of fixes are expected to make their way into Vista Service Pack 1 later this year.

Some of the changes noted by testers are better file copy performance, faster boot times, improved compatibility with newer graphics cards, and better performance in games with advanced visuals. According to some enthusiasts, these patches contain the fixes they have been waiting for. Microsoft has not commented on the now-leaked hot-fix packs, which are available for both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Vista.

In an interview with Financial Times Deutschland, the president of global #3 PC manufacturer Acer once again conveyed his overall disappointment with the lack of contribution he believes Microsoft's Windows Vista provides to PC sales. Though Gianfranco Lanci's comments were only briefly excerpted, for the first time, Lanci purported to speak not just for Acer but for his competitors as well, telling the paper, "Die gesamte Industrie ist enttäuscht über Windows Vista." ("The entire industry is disappointed with Windows Vista.")

Most likely, Lanci's comments were in Italian and translated into German. But a summary of his explanation by FTD points to two factors, the second being what he characterized as Vista's relative instability and lack of maturity. Lanci and other manufacturers had apparently hoped for a surge in sales comparable to what Windows XP and its predecessors provided.

Forget another five-year wait for the next version of Windows. Microsoft has shared a few details of its next-generation operating system, tentatively named "Windows 7," due in 2010. The next version will come in both 32 and 64-bit versions, and include both business and consumer versions. Microsoft is also looking into the concept of subscription service as a way to extend the functionality of the operating system.

More importantly, the company is now focusing on Windows Vista Service Pack 1, which some news sources are saying may be available by the end of the year. "As part of our ongoing outreach to enterprise customers and partners, Microsoft has begun sharing plans for how they will continue to deliver value to businesses in the future, including Software Assurance customers in particular," Microsoft said in a statement.

Following reports that Microsoft would deliver a beta of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 this week, well before the originally-stated November date, the company has taken the unusual step of issuing a statement to quell any expectation, saying no changes have been made to the release timeframe.

The first news of a Vista SP1 beta arriving this week came from Microsoft watcher Mary Jo Foley, who cited sources that said a release would be made to a group of select testers. Although Foley never specified how widespread the beta would be, and never characterized it as a public release, the news quickly circled the Web.

Those still considering whether to make the jump to Windows Vista will have additional help with today's 2.0 release of Microsoft's Vista Hardware Assessment Tool. The application takes inventory of a computer system and makes recommendations if upgrades are required.

Version 2.0 of the Assessment Tool is primarily designed for businesses with a large number of systems networked together. It automatically connects to each PC and acquires the necessary information through Microsoft's WMI protocol, and can handle up to 25,000 systems per domain. The tool also prepares reports displaying how many systems are Vista-ready, and assesses compatibility with Office 2007 as well. The download, when it goes live, will be available here.

Even though Microsoft had already warned users that its Family Discount Program would be ending on June 30, it still hasn't stopped some from taking issue with the move.

Windows Vista team member Nick White reminded consumers of the program's imminent demise in a blog post to the Windows Vista web log Wednesday afternoon. When it was announced, the company also added a sunset clause as well.

Adobe on Wednesday rolled out version 1.1 of its Photoshop Lightroom application, the company's image processing application for professional photographers. The update brings support for Windows Vista, a new image management system, improved noise reduction and sharpening, and additional RAW file support.

"Although the beta period has ended, we are happy to say that Photoshop Lightroom continues to incorporate user feedback with this latest update," remarked Lightroom product manager Tom Hogarty. Adobe's goal with Lightroom is to offer consumers the simplest such tool for managing RAW files, and the company says it has no plans to compete with Apple's Aperture feature-wise. The update, for Mac and Windows, is free to existing customers. Photoshop Lightroom is priced at $299 USD.