The Microsoft Product Team Blog is discussing one of the Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) prerequisite updates, the Servicing Stack Update (SSU) — KB937287 — which contains the SP1 installation program.

“Back in February, we posted about the release of a couple of prerequisites for Windows Vista Service Pack 1. While several million customers installed the updates successfully, you may have read that a few customers experienced an endless reboot cycle while installing one of the prerequisites: KB937287 …”

As posted last month on the Windows Vista blog, we suspended automatic distribution of the SSU while we investigated the problem. Over the past few weeks, we’ve learned a lot more about the problem and have taken steps to address the issue. Today, we’d like to let you know that we are resuming automatic distribution of the SSU tomorrow and provide more clarity on what happened. To clear up any concerns for those of you who have already installed the update: There is no problem with the files that make up the Servicing Stack Update (KB937287); the problem some customers encountered was with the installation process for the update.

If you have downloaded this update, you may like to read the whole article.

I would normally ignore such questions. But when the reply comes from as knowledgeable a source as Joe Wilcox over the eWeek’s Microsoft Watch I take notice.

Joe takes us through the computer history of his friend, a bookseller who loves Microsoft — until now :

Only the newness of the Vista computer and my friend’s confidence in Microsoft have kept him from moving full-time back to the XP system. He wants to believe. But like me, his faith stopped with Vista SP1. He didn’t have confidence to install the update without me around, and I would want to back up everything first. There has been too much trouble surrounding SP1.

I haven’t updated my wife’s laptop, either. A few weeks back, one of the two SP1 prerequisite updates fatally wounded the boot-up process. System Restore rolled back the update and revived Vista.

I have to say I’ve not had as much trouble with my system as either Joe Wilcox or his friend. But then I haven’t been given the option of SP1 yet.

Food for thought.

In his keynote speech at the 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Bill Gates talked about what he called the commercial success of Windows Vista. “I’m pleased to say that we’ve got over 100 million people using Vista now, and that’s a very significant milestone,” he said.

Many commentators regard that figure as disappointing, however. One forecast speculated that 270m units would be sold during 2007. Microsoft’s numbers may lag the market, since the vitally important Christmas selling season is barely over. Microsoft officials have pointed out that it’s difficult to know how many units of Vista are in use in large corporations since the licenses they buy allow them to deploy either Vista or XP.

In addition, the shipping of Vista’s Service Pack 1 (SP1) later this quarter should shake the market into action.

Richard Shim, research manager at analysis firm IDC, said, “Vista has received a lukewarm response because Microsoft hasn’t made a good case for upgrading”.

Another commented, “Office 2007 only takes marginal advantage of Vista. The impact of Vista is still alive,” he added. “It’s not as influential as it was, but I wouldn’t call it a failure”.

Robert X. Cringely, the veteran technology writer over at PBS, recently forecast that “Microsoft will indefinitely extend the life of Windows XP, acknowledging the failure of Windows Vista, which will require another generation of hardware (and another $5 billion in R and D) to finally look good three years from now.”

According to Ed Bott over at ZNet the case for Windows Vista Service Pack 1 just got a lot stronger.

“When SP1 ships sometime in early 2008, it will strip away one of Vista’s most annoying features and remove one of the most persistent objections to Vista’s adoption.”

Microsoft will remove the reduced functionality mode — the so-called “kill switch” — from the operating system, “restoring the Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) program to its original role as a series of persistent but nonlethal notifications”.

WGA senior product manager Alex Kochis talking to reporters and analysts, said, “Based on customer feedback, we will not reduce user functionality on systems determined to be non-genuine”.

With SP1 installed, a Windows Vista system that fails validation, which Microsoft terms “non genuine”, will continue to work exactly as before, except for some minor annoyances. The desktop background will be black. If you change it, a scheduled task will paint it black again one hour later, and you’ll see a small “Activate Now” alert in the same location, which apparently you can ignore.

Sounds hairy, though.