Originally posted by: vanzant
Despite what I've read on a thousand different forums, I'm not going to assume any version of the SP1 is official until it shows up on my Windows Update or the Microsoft Download Center. I've read a ton of problems people are having after installing SP1 and every time it's always some sort of SP1 Refresh. I'm going to play it safe and not bother with an MD5 and comparing build numbers...instead I'm going to go on about my business and check WU periodically. Until anything official from Microsoft emerges, I suggest everyone else do the same.
Of course, you could always make a Ghost image if your machine and screw around with SP1 Refresh, but with the final so close there's really no point.😉
I agree, though I'll point out that I got both my SP1 (RC0, and RC2-REFRESH) directly and officially FROM Microsoft Windows Update, so there's no real 3rd party malware risk for those that do it that way, just risk of instability / wasted time.
If your system is running fine the way you use it right now, sure, just apply the important / critical security patches and otherwise wait 1-2 months for a "final" SP1 Windows Update to get all the non-security related "fixes" (which are the main benefit of SP1 versus just getting the Windows Update security type fixes).
Anyone who installs a pre-SP1 version now MIGHT eventually want to / have to uninstall it and upgrade to a "final version" and that'll take about 1-2 hours even if all goes smoothly.
Then again with the monthly updates and regular maintenance that's needed, you pretty much have to spend about 1-2 hours a month MINIMUM doing things like applying updates, installing / removing software, rebooting, defragging, etc. So as long as it's not much worse than that I'll try it out.
Anyone who EVER installs SP1 of any version MIGHT have some problems with stability because of doing so, but that's the risk you take with installing any new software. Overall one has to assess if the possible benefits outweight the possible risks.
The bottom line is unless you have the practice and competence to back up your PC of all useful data / settings and are PREPARED for the day WHEN (not IF) something in software or hardware makes it not work, eventually SOME action or INACTION will cause you massive pain / loss.
If it's just a matter of being experimental / curious / cautious about your approach to upgrades, well, to each their own. Personally I'm just kicking the tires of Vista, using it for a few things that I need to do that have to be done on either XP or Vista, and evaluating how well it works for me to decide on future actions (going back to XP or whatever). If Vista SP1 bombs, well, I gave it a try, I'll not use it for serious work until maybe I decide to check in again at SP2 time. If it works, great, I'll get on with using it more often.
There are enough KNOWN BROKEN things about Vista RTM pre-SP1, though, that I'm not brave enough to want to even use it that way and set myself up for unnecessary amounts of instability / brokenness / pain, so EVENTUALLY installing SP1/SP2/whatever when that's convenient and safe is a no-brainer.
