Computerzworld

Microsoft occasionally releases service packs for its Windows operating systems to fix problems and add features. Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) was released on February 4, 2008 alongside Windows Server 2008 to OEM partners after a five-month beta test period. Service Pack 1 will be available to current Windows Vista users mid-March. A whitepaper published by Microsoft near the end of August 2007 outlined the scope and intent of the service pack, identifying three major areas of improvement: reliability and performance, administration experience, and support for newer hardware and standards.

One area of particular note is performance. Areas of improvement include file copy operations, hibernation, logging off on domain-joined machines, Javascript parsing in Internet Explorer, network file share browsing, Windows Explorer ZIP file handling, and Windows Disk Defragmenter.The ability to choose individual drives to defragment is being reintroduced as well.

Service Pack 1 introduces support for some new hardware and software standards, notably the exFAT file system,802.11n wireless networking,, IPv6 over VPN connections, and the Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol. An updated version of Windows Installer is included that provides support for multi-package transactions and embedding the user interface of a child Windows Installer package inside a parent installation session. Booting a system using Extensible Firmware Interface on x64 systems is also being introduced; this feature had originally been slated for the initial release of Vista but was delayed due to a lack of compatible hardware at the time.

Two areas have seen changes in Service Pack 1 that have come as the result of concerns from software vendors. One of these is desktop search; users will be able to change the default desktop search program to one provided by a third party instead of the Microsoft desktop search program that comes with Windows Vista, and desktop search programs will be able to seamlessly tie in their services into the operating system. These changes come in part due to complaints from Google, whose Google Desktop Search application was hindered by the presence of Vista’s built-in desktop search. In June 2007, Google claimed that the changes being introduced for Service Pack 1 “are a step in the right direction, but they should be improved further to give consumers greater access to alternate desktop search providers.”The other area of note is a set of new security APIs being introduced for the benefit of antivirus software that currently relies on the unsupported practice of patching the kernel.

An update to DirectX 10, named DirectX 10.1,makes mandatory several features which were previously optional in Direct3D 10 hardware. Graphics cards will be required to support DirectX 10.1.Service Pack 1 includes a kernel (6001) that matches the version shipped with Windows Server 2008.

Support for the Group Policy Management Console is being removed; a replacement is planned for release the same time frame as the release of the service pack.

He further said : “If the USB 3.0 Promoter’s group meets its objective of spec completion in the first half of 2008, then we should see the first silicon solutions on the market in 2009, followed by end products in late 2009 or early 2010.”

A Surface computer is able to recognize physical objects from a paintbrush to a cell phone and allows hands-on, direct control of content such as photos, music and maps. Surface turns an ordinary tabletop into a dynamic surface that provides interaction with all forms of digital content through natural gestures, touch and physical objects.

The new product is aimed directly at hotels, retail establishments, restaurants and public entertainment venues and should be commercially available towards the end of the year.

It’s an interesting product in that it’s completely out of left field. Microsoft gives examples of ordering a beverage during a meal with just the tap of a finger and quickly browsing through music and dragging favorite songs onto a personal playlist by moving a finger across the screen. Build this into a bar and you’d get one-touch beer service although I’m not sure if they’ve found a way to work out when your beer glass is empty so replenishment becomes automatic, maybe in a later version.

The practical uses for Surface at the point of sale are broad. This is touch screen point of sale technology at a new level.