Anybody who has seen O Brother Art Thou would remember what a fun filled adventure it was. The blind man's prophecy in the beginning of the movie about the hidden treasure the 3 convicts were seeking and the treasure they would ultimately find, is probably what would best describe the pursuit of millions of people seeking the ever so elusive Vista SP1 and the 2 updates - KB938194 & KB938979 could yield.

I absolutely adore Jim Allchin, so much; that nobody at Microsoft can ever take his place in my mind. But I think there's been too much of negative speak about Steve Sinofsky on the blogosphere. But Office 2007 is a great product isn't it? And so is the case with SP1, Especially the enormous amount of skepticism about whether SP1 would indeed provide performance improvements. Well turns out, most people may well obtain the performance boost by August 14th, when Vista Performance & Reliability Pack is released to the public. For the lucky ones who are enrolled in relevant programs on Connect you can download it today. And it seems the results are encouraging...

Update: The original forum posting on AeroXP has gone poof! But you can still read about the 2 updates - KB938194 & KB938979

Robert McLaws has put it so well. I wouldn't want to say anything myself. But I'll add this there are many zealots who are not fortunate enough to be in one such programs but very much qualified to handle the responsibilities that come with participating in a software test program. Had I not been in the program that let me install the QFE and test it out, I would have definitely wanted to have it. But that's not because I am a fanboy (which I am) but because I know I have the skills, qualification & skills to handle it. This brings me to say that perhaps Microsoft should prioritize the Vista SP1 beta opportunity to people who made valuable contribution to the Vista beta program (read: qualified for the complimentary copy).

I have been down under in God's Own Country - Kerala on a family visit from the beginning of the month until the 11th. Had I been vacationing I wouldn't have picked this time of the year to go there, but my grandfather was unwell and my mother wanted to go see him one last time. But there's been an outbreak of Chikungunya (a rare form of viral fever) in some parts of Kerala and upon our return both me & my mother have fallen sick since last weekend. Although I have been able to  return to work since yesterday, a full recovery is 5-6 days away. And with the catching up with the backlogged work, email and what not, I'll be slow in posting to this blog this month.

This is the 2nd consecutive summer that I've fallen sick for a fortnight, I never liked summers anyway's, I'm beginning to hate it even more!