Memory is getting cheaper every day. This is one reason why more and more people are equipping their PCs with 4GB RAM or more. Modern desktops often support up to 8GB. So it happens quite often these days that a proud owner of a new a PC wonders why Vista only reports about 3GB RAM even though he bought 4GB. I have been asked this question by several people within the last weeks. Some of them were IT pros, so I thought I should post something about it here. The things I say in this post mostly apply to Windows XP as well.

In theory, a 32-bit operating system should be able to support 2³² bytes = 4GB memory. Thus the first reaction usually is that the memory chips or with the mainboard has a hardware defect. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Vista can indeed address 4GB of memory. However, the maximum amount of RAM that can be used by the system and applications is 3.12 GB.

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As I write this, more than 1500 have taken part in my poll about Vista deployment. It is no secret that Vista isn’t really a success among corporate customers. However, I must admit, I am a bit surprised by the results of this poll.

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It seems as if Service Pack SP1 for Windows Vista won’t be able to accelerate Vista adoption. My article about Vista SP1 troubles is meanwhile among the top 10 here on 4sysops. Most of the readers are coming from Google searching for help. Guess they didn’t read my warning. The fact that Microsoft offers now a toll-free hotline for customers having problems with Vista SP1 is another hint that this service pack is a bit problematic. This post gives some tips of how to deal with SP1 problems.

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So ordinary people can now download Vista SP1, too. It is hard to find an IT site today that doesn’t have the news. Yesterday, the blogosphere and IT sites were in fever to uncover Microsoft’s most protected secret. Will Vista SP1 hit Windows Update today or not? And what about the retailers? Nobody really knew, everyone was speculating. All this tension that was building-up over the last months is finally over. Now, we can sleep soundly again. So, is this brilliant marketing or not?

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The German print magazine C’t (5/2008, p. 62) compared the performance of Vista SP1 with Vista RTM. There are quite a few performance tests about Vista SP1 these days, but those from C’t are always worth mentioning because they are known to have a lot of experience with such technical tests.

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Update: I posted a small guide of how to solve problems with Service Sack 1 for Windows Vista

Vista SP1 is officially only available for enterprise customers, but the reports about problems caused by this service pack are piling up. This post contains a list of all SP1 issues I am aware of.

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Paul Thurrott published a new review about Vista SP1. I covered many of the things he said in several posts here on 4sysops. But his article gives a good overview about the changes in Vista SP1. Actually, it is more of an assessment where Vista stands today. It might be of help for those who are hesitant to deploy Vista or not.

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Adrian Kingsley-Hughes from ZDnet ran a comprehensive performance test comparing Windows Vista SP1 with Windows XP SP2. He only tested file copy related tasks, though. Now, guess which OS is faster? Good guess! Anyway, it is interesting to see the exact difference because it allows you to estimate in what way a move to Vista might affect performance. However, in one sense all these performance tests are pointless.

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I think every second Microsoft blog I’ve read today is broadcasting the news. Vista SP1 is now available on MSDN and Technet Plus. If you skim over these blogs you’ll make out some deep breaths. Finally, Microsoft’s high-ups understood that RTM nowadays means download availability. I’d like to add that it is also available for Volume License customers. Home users still have to wait though, but the more tech savvy ones will find their way to get this service pack, anyhow.

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It seems as if Microsoft is impressed by the enormous critique they got for the delay regarding the release of Vista SP1. There are reports that the English version of SP1 will be available for Volume Licensing customers at the end of week. Later this month MSDN and Technet Plus subscribers will be allowed installing this precious service pack. If you don’t want to wait you can download it right now via BitTorrent. You should just be careful not to download an altered version containing malware. I will explain in this post how.

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