Microsoft RTM of Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 Announced

[PCpraiser100]

Nice, hope to see reviews anytime soon.

[BOSE]

Since im such a nice guy, im posting a link to the real working RTM for x86 and x64. 6002.18005

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2009/0...rtm-600218005/

[BrooksyX]

I downloaded the rtm from torrent yesterday. So far no problems. Seems like a pretty solid service pack.

[Polarman]

How to check for build version.

Open regedit:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\

Look for: BuildLabEx

[HellasVagabond]

Shouldnt RC mention it is RC ? Plus the date of both files is now...Size is the same as the RTM as well.

Just for the fun of it i will also DL the file from that other site to see the difference.

[ShadowFold]

I'm gonna wait for performance reviews. Not necessarily eager to install this honestly. SP1 is already blazing fast.

[Darknova]

Originally Posted by HellasVagabond

Shouldnt RC mention it is RC ? Plus the date of both files is now...Size is the same as the RTM as well.

Just for the fun of it i will also DL the file from that other site to see the difference.

No, the build number is what tells you what version it is.

The RTM build is build number 18005
The RC is build number 16676 (v286)

If the version you install has any build number, or version number next to it, then it's the wrong version.

[BOSE]

It seems that there is a slight performance increase. System response is crisper, folders and files open up quicker.


There is still issues with NOD32 V4, random BSOD, and NOD Real time protection is disabled. I had to go back to NOD32 V3.

Vista 64bit Ultimate.

[HellasVagabond]

Last time i installed an SP2 Beta i could see it mentioned in the installer and virtually in every doc inside the installation package. Now i see nothing to indicate that and it is confusing. In any case it works great as is.

[Darknova]

Originally Posted by HellasVagabond

Last time i installed an SP2 Beta i could see it mentioned in the installer and virtually in every doc inside the installation package. Now i see nothing to indicate that and it is confusing. In any case it works great as is.

Well like I said, when any service pack, or OS is in it's BETA stages Microsoft quite clearly documents which build number and stage of BETA it is in. Once it's released it just become Service Pack X or Windows X, so as not to confuse the public.

Imagine you knew nothing about PCs and were confronted with SP2 BETA, SP2 RC, SP2 RTM and SP2, which would you go for? lol

Originally Posted by Darknova View Post
v286 is the release candidate (build number 16676). It is NOT the RTM version (build number 18005).

build number dont go down in size for rc:/ 18005 is rtm, lol Though the links here are not the rtm version.




Though whats great about sp2 its built w/ 2008 server code

[HellasVagabond]

In any case the only thing i expect MS to have corrected in RTM is to make it somehow harder for people with pirated copies to install it :P

[HeadlessChicken]

Originally Posted by The Witcher

I'm using Vista Ultimate 64 bit so which one should I download ?

neither, they are the RC not RTM version.

click darknova's link and get the legit RTM version there

as to making it harder for people to pirate, it dosnt really do more then block the most common OLD crack, newer cracks have replaced them that ARE NOT BLOCKED.

as to the "based on server 2008 code" sp1 was as well, it was ment to bring vista to the same state(kernal version) as server 2008, ms is trying to get back into their old practice of having the same updates for the workstation/desktop os as the server veriant of the same os

this should mean less bugged updates

[BOSE]

Originally Posted by HeadlessChicken

neither, they are the RC not RTM version.

click darknova's link and get the legit RTM version there

darknova hasnt posted any links. Im the one that posted a link to a legit RTM download site.

[HeadlessChicken]

Originally Posted by BOSE

darknova hasnt posted any links. Im the one that posted a link to a legit RTM download site.

then whats the link in this post?

Originally Posted by Darknova

v286 is the release candidate (build number 16676). It is NOT the RTM version (build number 18005).

Go here for the torrents to the leaked RTM version.

see the underlined (linked text) the Go here

thats a link, to RTM

[HeadlessChicken]

Originally Posted by ShadowFold

I'm gonna wait for performance reviews. Not necessarily eager to install this honestly. SP1 is already blazing fast.

sp2 makes vista/2008 far more responcive, there are reviews of the beta out there.

infact i went and found it for you

http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/17...nce/index.html

Introduction

We managed to get hold of a copy of Windows Vista SP2 RC (Release Candidate) from Microsoft and decided to put it through its paces against Vista SP1 to see if consumers can expect to see any performance improvements in the latest service pack for the struggling Vista operating system.

Release Candidate or RC simply means that it is a possible final version for Microsoft to release to the public sometime soon after. Many previews of the Vista SP2 BETA were published toward the end of last year, but this is build 6002.16659.090114-1728 – a newer release which is likely to yield some improvements.

Besides any possible performance improvements, service packs always include new OS features and usually a truck load of bug fixes and security updates.

Here is a summary of the new features that Microsoft will add to Vista SP2 from PC Adviser:


• Let you record data onto Blu-ray discs

• Add into your system Vista Feature Pack For Wireless, which provides support for the latest Bluetooth technology - Bluetooth v2.1 - as well as for the Windows Connect Now (WCN) Wi-Fi protocol

• Give you better Wi-Fi performance when you're exiting Vista's sleep mode

• Make your RSS feeds sidebar gadget work faster and better

• Give you the latest desktop search engine, Windows Search 4

• Cut down the resources it takes to run your various sidebar gadgets

• It'll give your OS an overall tune-up, too

• Give your computer support for VIA Technologies' new 64-bit CPU

• Let your system support exFAT, which can handle larger files and can also use UTC timestamps so you can synchronize files across different time zones

• Boost your power management efficiency by as much as 10 percent


We installed fresh installs of both Vista SP1 and SP2 on our test bed, installed all available updates from Windows Update for both operating systems and got to work benchmarking over the past couple of days. Our SP2 Ultimate install took up a total of about 14GB of HDD space, while SP1 is slightly slimmer at around 13GB.

Let's get started now and see if it will be worth upgrading to Vista SP2.

Final Thoughts

So, from our testing here today, what conclusion do we come out with at the end of the day?



Vista Service Pack 2 RC managed to steal some surprising gaming wins away from Vista SP1 - some by a fairly large margin. SP2 RC managed to offer much better performance under the PT Boats benchmark by up to almost 33% in the average FPS. And under Crysis Warhead the minimum frame rate was vastly improved, moving from four FPS in SP1 to ten FPS in SP2.....

expect MORE perf boosts from RTM as they have smoothed the rough edges.

[HellasVagabond]

Sometimes the difference between a beta and an RTM is that they just tested it more to be sure it works. I did however install the RTM to my second rig and runned a few synthetic benchmarks. No difference between the RC2 and the RTM. I will also test it in games to be certain.

[BOSE]

Originally Posted by HeadlessChicken

then whats the link in this post?



see the underlined (linked text) the Go here

thats a link, to RTM

You are right, my apologies, my old laptop in day time blends in all the colors making them look all the same.

I did post a more of a direct link.

[Mussels]

good old ashentech.

Torrenting it now, since the direct download said "all slots to my country are taken" but meh.. still getting 500KB/s.

Will be uninstalling the RC and updating to the RTM soon

[h3llb3nd4]

Awesome... Gonna ask my friend to get it for me
don't want to kill my cap yet

[AsRock]

Cool, hopefully it's worth using. should have it soon i'll try it later today.

Need to go bed already haha.

Originally Posted by File_1993

So the above arent RTM? crap i just finished downloading it


Or are they only one language versions?

I was thinking the same... i can wait though..

[reckon]

Originally Posted by HellasVagabond

VISTA RTM SP2 Links

Take these with a grain of salt because i do not know if they work yet. However the files do exist.
In any case hurry before they take them down

VISTA SP2 X86

http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...948465-X86.exe


VISTA SP2 X64

http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...948465-X64.exe


http://forums.techpowerup.com/attach...1&d=1241018651

ummm... Looks like there are no links available for official SP2 bits http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/w.../dd262148.aspx

[Mussels]

HellasVagabond: the links you provided at the start of the thread were for the RC1 and not the RTM, and regardless they no longer work. since people are incapable of reading the other comments to find this out can you please edit the links out of your post?

There were links to torrents/other websites with the final. when will people LEARN TO READ.

[HeadlessChicken]

the links above(orignaly posted by darknova) have downloads for the RTM build of sp2, expect it to be a while yet b4 they make ms's download pages, weeks or more if past experiance with ms service packs are any indication.

[buggalugs]

Originally Posted by HellasVagabond

Sometimes the difference between a beta and an RTM is that they just tested it more to be sure it works. I did however install the RTM to my second rig and runned a few synthetic benchmarks. No difference between the RC2 and the RTM. I will also test it in games to be certain.

"tested it more to make sure it works"???? LOL. Nobody wants a RC when there are RTM versions around. Its just wasting peoples time and bandwidth. Please remove your links.