Windows 7 is, hands down, one of Microsoft’s best launched OSes, by which I mean, it’s the first Windows version that I have ever felt comfortable recommending to people on its release date. Both Windows XP and Windows Vista had numerous documented security and/or performance issues when initially released, and while subsequent patches eventually made both of these versions perfectly usable, it took a few months (if not years) for them to get there.
These XP and Vista milestones were normally delivered via service packs, giant Microsoft patch roll-ups that bring more substantial OS tweaks than normal run-of-the-mill patches. It is generally accepted that XP’s Service Pack 2 helped fix many of that system’s security issues, while most of Vista’s performance problems were cleared up by Service Pack 1.
My question: Since Windows 7 has no fundamental performance or security problems (at least, not on the level of its predecessors), does this OS really need service packs? Should service packs go the way of the floppy drive or the CRT monitor and be banished to the annals of computer history? In this editorial, I’ll try to explain exactly why Windows 7 needs service packs, even though it is Microsoft’s best launch OS ever.
Mental Roadblocks
This is, perhaps, one of the most important factors to consider – one of Microsoft’s firmest footholds is in offices and enterprises all over the world, and many of them have a “wait for the first service pack” mentality when it comes to evaluating and deploying new Windows versions. This mentality goes all the way back to the Windows NT days (NT 4.0 received no fewer than six service packs), and has been reinforced by every single business-level Windows release since.
So you can hardly blame some businesses for waiting, even if the press says good things about Windows 7. I’d say that this more than anything else influenced Microsoft’s decision to begin work on Windows 7 SP1 before Windows 7 RTM was even finished – it’s important for them to get that “Service Pack 1″ badge slapped on their new OS to ease fears among conservative IT shops.
