Getting  Along With Your Computer Column Archive

Microsoft Releases Vista SP2 and Bing

By Cate Eales
Appeared June 4, 2009 on castanet.net

Vista Service Pack 2 is available, but not mandatory. Yet. Microsoft's new internet search engine is available, and it's kind of...interesting.


Vista Service Pack 2 Is Available
Vista Service Pack 2 is available for download. It includes the bug fixes that have already been released for Vista, as well as three major new improvements.

WiFi and Bluetooth performance is better with SP2. Another improvement is a cleanup utility, which automatically tidies up after the installation. People have reported regaining tens of gigabytes of hard drive space after installing Service Pack 2.

The third major improvement is in the Windows Search feature in Vista. Windows Search 4.0 is the program that indexes and then finds files, including documents, email messages, music files, and other items on your computer.

For now, you will have to download SP2 if you want it. Later this year, it will show up in the regular Microsoft Updates. You can download SP2 for 32-bit systems here. If you are running a 64-bit edition, you'll need this version. If you are not sure which you are running, check this Microsoft article.

Service Pack 2 will make some significant changes to your system files, it will take some time, and you should prepare. Back up your important files before you start the installation. I also recommend backing up all your drivers with DriverMax or DriverBackup! 2.

When you are ready to begin the installation:

Expect the installation to take at least an hour, and expect at least one system restart. Also, please note that you must have Service Pack 1 installed before you can install Service Pack 2. If you try to install SP2 on a machine that doesn't have SP1 installed, it will not work.

Microsoft offers free support for Service Pack 2 issues, until November, 2009. The site is here.

 

They could have called it anything. But they called it "Bing".
Microsoft's latest challenge to search engine behemoth Google is called, for some reason, Bing. You can get there by browsing to bing.com.

Microsoft describes Bing as bringing us "a richer, more organized search experience." I guess in comparison to MSN Search or to Live Search (two previous search engine offerings from Microsoft), that could be true. But in comparison to the 800-pound gorilla of search engines? I'm not sure this is a richer experience than Google Search.

Results are organized differently, though. I like is the "Related Search" suggestions down the left side of the page. (See the graphic below for some --- probably --- unintended humour.)

And, hovering on a result reveals text from the website. That can be helpful if you're really not sure whether to click on a given result or not.

(click to enlarge graphic)

(The screen capture here shows the green circles which are part of my Web of Trust Firefox add-on. Bing itself doesn't rate the sites.) And if a site that comes up in the search results includes video, you can preview the video right on the Bing results page.

I think Bing will take some getting used to, and I'm not sure many people will find it compelling enough to switch from Google for all or even most of their searching. Bing is probably better at some things than Google. It's now, for Microsoft, a matter of getting people to try Bing and discover what those things are.

Have you tried Bing? Do you like it? Do you like it better than Google? I'd love to hear your opinions. Please email me at help@computercarekelowna.com and let me know what you think!


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Links
DriverMax http://www.innovative-sol.com/drivermax/
DriverBackup! 2 http://sourceforge.net/projects/drvback/
Vista SP2 for 32-bit systems http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=a4dd31d5-f907-4406-9012-a5c3199ea2b3&displaylang=en
Vista SP2 for 64-bit systems http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=656c9d4a-55ec-4972-a0d7-b1a6fedf51a7&displaylang=en
How to determine whether a computer is running a 32-bit version or a 64-bit version of the Windows operating system http://support.microsoft.com/kb/827218
Vista SP2 support http://support.microsoft.com/oas/default.aspx?LN=en-ca&x=6&y=17&prid=13014&gprid=582034&acty=Start&ctl=Region&wf=Workflow
Bing http://bing.com/
800-pound gorilla http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=800-pound+gorilla
Web of Trust http://www.mywot.com/
Computer Care Kelowna http://computercarekelowna.com/
Getting Along With Your Computer Column Archives http://rlis.com/column.htm
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Cate Eales has been helping people make online computing safe, accessible and fun for over 20 years. She lives in Kelowna with her husband, Eric, and her dog, Sandy. Cate is a partner in Computer Care Kelowna, helping individuals and small businesses with virus, spyware and malware eradication; personal computer training and management; digital image management; music transfer; and website design, hosting and management. Email Cate at help@computercarekelowna.com with your comments, suggestions, or questions. To browse the column archives, visit the Real Life Internet Solutions website at www.rlis.com.

© Cate Eales 2009 – All Rights Reserved
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