The list, recently posted on Microsoft's Web site, can be downloaded as a 47-page document that the company says is not exhaustive. Microsoft plans to add more fixes and patches to Windows
For now, Vista users can entertain themselves by poring over the hundreds of updates that Microsoft says will be part of SP1.
Among them: a fix for a problem in which optical disks turn blank after being formatted with Vista's Live File System; a patch for a glitch that generates an error message when large files are copied from one Vista-based computer to another over a network; and an update designed to improve Vista's speed when its operating on a computer linked to a virtual private network.
Other updates are meant to improve Internet Explorer's streaming video performance and prevent data loss in USB devices connected to Vista PCs. There's also a fix that adds a Venezuelan time zone.
Microsoft said some of the fixes detailed in the list are already available to the public as individual downloads, while others will only be released as part of the final version of Vista SP1.
Unfortunately for some Vista users especially those running custom business apps -- the service pack will not fix some application compatibility problems that affect the current version of Vista.
The Vista SP1 lengthy documentation runs counter to earlier statements by Microsoft officials that the company was not planning to release a "big bang" service pack for the operating system, which debuted in January.
Microsoft marketing VP Michael Sievert told InformationWeek in March that Vista was "high quality right out of the gate" and that the company would likely dribble out small updates as required via its Windows Update service.
Since then, however, users have apparently reported enough problems with Vista to force a change in Microsoft's thinking.
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