Just days after it was released, Vista SP1 has created more problems for more users of the successor of Windows XP, which came out in 2001.

Users are finding that it is suffering from speed and compatibility issues, even Microsoft executives are complaining about it after emails were made public during a US court case about it’s “Vista Capable” guide.

The service pack was to improve the performance and security of the expensive and plagued operating system, but eventually did the opposite, creating more headaches - to the already added headaches of Vista.

Technology websites are showing users hatred of the latest service pack, with some could not install the update at all.

The SP1 website has said that it would not work if the computer uses some devices by Intel, Symantec or RealTek AC. It also tells them
they have to resolve these issues before they upgrade.

It is also not compatible with certain applications, mostly security applications like ZoneAlarm Security Suite and BitDefender Antivirus.

But those who installed the update noticed only minor improvements in speed; with the Extreme Tech website testing it on the graphic-intensive game Crysis, and ntoing that it was slightly faster than XP but fell behind XP if it was on a high-resoultion setup.

Team member Brandon LeBlanc has issued an apology on the Windows Vista Team Blog.

“I apologize to all who are experiencing issues with Windows Vista SP1,” he wrote.

Senior Microsoft staff have now been revealed to have complained about the misleading advertisements and Windows Vista incompatibility issues in embarrassing e-mails made public during a court case.

Published online by The New York Times, corporate vice president for Windows product management Mike Nash said that he “got burned” after buying a laptop with “Vista Capable” but was not capable to run the full version of the operating system.

“I know that I chose my laptop (a Sony TX770P) because it had the vista (sic) logo and was pretty disappointed that it not only wouldn’t run Glass, but more importantly wouldn’t run Movie Maker,” he wrote in an e-mail about his “$2100 e-mail machine”.

“Are we seeing this from a lot of customers?”

Glass is the internal codename for the Windows Vista user interface, which is known as Aero. Movie Maker is a free basic video editing program that comes with Vista or from Microsoft’s website.

As well, chief operating officer Jon A Shirley chose not to upgrade to Vista on one of his computers after finding it was not compatible with several peripheral devices, including his printer and two scanners.

Staff also discussed a decision to lower Vista’s hardware requirements to encourage sales, with one warning that it would result in “a complete tragedy”.

This comes as a US judge granted class-action status to a lawsuit against the company by Dianne Kelley and Kenneth Hansen claiming that they were mislead by stickers reading “Windows Vista Capable” when they purchased computers in 2006 as those computers could only run a cut-down version of the software.

The class action against Microsoft is scheduled to go to trial in October. The messages can be download here [PDF, 3.5MB].

Following lukewarm sales of Vista and also following the US lead into cutting prices, Microsoft Australia is hoping to get in more buyers by slashing prices up to 40 percent from the retail versions.

The Vista Ultimate Edition will now sell at $449, from $751; while (old price in brackets) Home Basic will sell for $299 ($385), Home Premium for $349 ($455) and Business for $449 ($565).

Similar cuts are also going to affect the upgrade editions, which will cost from $149 - $399, from the original price of $199 - $495.

This comes after one year of lackluster sales when it was launched worldwide on January 30th, with many computer makers demanding XP and even allow buyers to downgrade.

But Microsoft is denying that it is reducing prices to pick up its market share. ““Windows Vista has been on the market for more than a year now and has been doing well, with more than 100 million licences sold in its first year,” a company spokesman said to Smarthouse.com.au.

Intel has now picked the name “Atom” for its new low-power processors, the brains for digital devices, that will power mobile internet devices and ultra low-cost notebooks and desktop PCs.

Intel sees a big market for the devices, saying that a low-cost “netbook” would cost around US$250.

The new processors are based on a new architecture built for small devices and less power consumption, Intel said. The previously code-named Silverthorne and Diamondville are made on it’s 45 nanometre chipmaking technology.

“Diamondville and Silverthorne both represent an attempt by Intel to sell chips profitably for a whole lot less,” said analyst Nathan Brookwood for market research firm Insight 64. “This is the first new processor design coming out of Intel since the Pentium Pro in 1995.”

Atom joins other brands like Core, Core 2, Celeron and Xeon.

Another chip being built is the Centrino Atom which will be aimed specifically at mobile Internet devices. It was formally known as Menlow. It will also feature integrated graphics, wireless radio and a lighter and thinner design.

These are slated to be released by the middle of the year.

In a surprising move, Microsoft has said that it will lower the prices to several different versions of its latest version of its operating system, Windows Vista.

For those in the US, it’s only cutting the higher-end versions of Vista, but only those that are used for upgrading a version from an earlier copy of an Windows OS. Vista Ultimate drops to $219 from $299 and Home Premium falls to $129 from $159.

Other countries will also see the price cuts, while Microsoft is elimnating the names of “Full” and “Upgrade” versions between Home Basic and Home Premium in emerging countries to convince many users to use genuine software.

It has surprised analysts by the news.

According to CNET News.com, Vista’s sales have been badly trailing those seen in XP for the first six months. This could be due to the price or that you will need a new computer or buy new computer parts to get Vista running in top condition. It is rare to have a computer that will have a Base Score of 5.

Price cuts have been rare in Microsoft’s case, with many retailers opting to do small price cuts as specials. However, this will change the Recommended Retail Price (RRP) to the amounts mentioned. Microsoft did the same thing to its Windows XP Media Center Edition. Initially pitched as an high-end version above XP Pro, it lowered its price to be higher than XP Home and not XP Pro. That move has seen an increase of sales and also saw XP Media Center being the dominant consumer version.

Vista’s code was finalized in late 2006, however it held back the retail launch until January 2007. It has currently sold more than 100 million copies, but is trailing behind XP’s sales in its early days.

The European Commission has fined Microsoft for 899 million euros last night after Microsoft failed to comply with its 2004 anti-trust lawsuit.

This fine adds to the 499 million euros that it has to pay to the European Commission, after finding it was abusing its dominance.

The new penalty is a sum of daily fines between June 21, 2006 and October 21, 2007 - after it was found that it was putting rivals unreasonable prices to get access to Microsoft’s source code.

The Commonwealth Bank is trialling the brand new Adobe Air as it hopes that it would dramatically reduce the time to approve the home loan and its dependence on proprietary software.

A few thousand CBA brokers will be armed with laptops that would be able to capture the home load application offline and transfer the data when online within 20 seconds.

They have been trialling the new technology created by Adobe for nearly eight months. CBA solutions architect Andrew Clark told Australia IT that they chose Air has it works across many operating systems and to reduce the reliability on proprietary software from Microsoft and others.

It hopes to launch the application by next quarter, he said yesterday after the launch in Sydney for the Adobe product.

Air, or Adobe Integrated Runtime, enables developers to create rich web applications mimic their desktop counterparts. Adopters include the New York Times, eBay, Nickelodeon, BBC and Nasdaq.

LG Electronics has said on Friday that it has halted sales of a laptop model after a consumer reported that the battery inside had melted down.

LG Chem Ltd., an affiliate to LG, created the batteries and have said that it is still investigating on the matter, according to LG Electronics spokesman Kim Jik-soo. Kim also said that the batteries are designed to dissolve as a safety feature to avoid a potential explosion.

The laptop model is unknown, but according to AP, it is no longer produced and was not made internationally but for South Korea.

The battery melted when a graduate student was using his computer, and reported it to a LG service center. In January, another battery produced by the same company exploded with LG saying an independent investigation, conducted earlier this month, showed that it was it was caused by “an external shock under an extremely high temperature.

LG’s personal computer business, which includes its laptops, accounted for 2.5 percent of sales last year.

Microsoft has released a list of programs which will not work or will suffer from reduced functionality after you install the first Service Pack for Windows Vista.

The programs are mostly composed of security applications, however programs such as the New York Times reader are featured on the list. Users are also advised to install the latest updates to fix the problem.

“Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) contains many security, reliability, and feature updates for Windows Vista. A program may experience a loss of functionality after you install Windows Vista SP1. However, most programs will continue to work as expected after you install Windows Vista SP1,” the company has said.

It is not considered to be a comprehensive list, but it has asked users who encounter problems with other applications to restart their PC and, if still having problems, install to a newer version of the program or contact the software vendor.

Even without the incompatibilities from SP1, Vista has been given a perception that it will have any compatibility with old systems by enterprise users, according to IBRS advisor Joseph Sweeney.

It would make Vista worse without the SP1 compatibilities, especially when many users have (or were told) to hold off Vista until the release of the Service Pack.

Microsoft Windows Vista’s Service Pack 1 is already out for MSDN subscribers, but will be available to the public in March

Even though Microsoft’s Open Office XML file format appears that it won’t be standardized, Microsoft might have some good news with the multiple countries participating in the Joint Photographic Experts Group, who created the JPEG standard, have approved to make the HD Photo format called JPEG XR.

The XR stands for “extended range”, which is a reference to the format’s ability to show a finer and wider range of tonal gradations and a richer colour palette.

The move is an important step for the photo format, from a in-house technology called Windows Media Photo to a more neutral format that will be used by many other companies.

It also means that Microsoft will have to be more patient to see if the new HD Photo/JPEG XR format catches on with the photographers and the manufacturers.

The new technology is already built within Windows Vista, but Microsoft has released a software development kit to allow the technology be implemented freely and with no royalty constraints. Adobe has also voiced its support for the format.