So today Microsoft released Vista SP1 build 17052 to tech beta testers.  This build will be posted for MSDN and Technet subsribers tomorrow (12/6/07), and for the broad public next week.  One thing to note, especially for those of you who have not yet run SP1.  If you install this build, you will need to UNINSTALL it before installing the final released version (which is due out in another month or two).

 Now for a quick blurb about my install experience with this build, I’ll just paste my mini-review.  The initial experience was bad, but once I got everything up and running it seems to be running leaps and bounds better than the previous builds of SP1.

 Well, where to begin.  First I should mention, this is why I HATE standalone
service pack installers and always swear by slipstreamed media.

Core2 Duo E6600 @ 3.6 GHz
EVGA 680i Motherboard
4 GB DDR2 SDRAM
EVGA Geforce 8800GTX
2 Seagate 320GB SATAII’s in RAID0
SB X-FI Platinum
ATI TV Wonder 600 Pro

Ok, so I uninstalled 17042 which went fine.  Went to install 17052 using the
standalone installer (wave0) and went through the initial prompts and let it
start doing it’s thing.  I came back a few minutes later to an error (error
code 0×80092004) which upon further research, seems to indicate a corrupted
certificate located in C:\Windows.  Great!  So now my only recourse was to
clean install (sorry, I am not running RTM, and I just felt funny running
something that felt so “dirty” at this point).  So I clean installed RTM x64
and tried the SP1 installer again.  This time it was successful and
everything seems to be working as it should be.

One issue I am having, which I am not exactly sure how to bug because I KNOW
it will be closed no repro unless you guys feel like building a twin to my
machine, is that there is a bootup delay introduced between the boot screen
and the glowing Vista orb showing up.  This delay did not exist in RTM,
install SP1, and bang, it’s delayed.  I’d say the delay is anywhere between
20 and 30 seconds, which is a little bit ridiculous.  Going to test
something now to see if it stops the delay and will report back if it works.

I never did pin down what is causing the boot delay, but this system is the only one I am seeing it on, so it’s something to do with SP1 hanging on something in my system.  If anyone has any ideas how to track it down leave a comment or e-mail me.  Thanks!