Strengthening its line of its products further, the Redmond, Washington based software giant, Microsoft has brought out its long-awaited first Windows Vista Service Pack, SP1.

SP1, a superb convergence of incremental updates that apparently cripples certain vendors' software, is known for its reliability and performance. It adds support for new hardware and includes earlier updates for compatibility with third party software. That means, it fixes existing bugs and adds significant new features. It incorporates patches delivered in earlier, smaller updates

Microsoft claims that more than 2,000 applications are now "certified for" or "work with" Windows Vista. According to Microsoft, SP1 will hit a number of security products that don’t work on updated desktops due to "compatibility problems". BitDefender AV or Internet Security, Fujitsu Shock Sensor and Zone Alarm Security Suite are going to be affected most by SP1. In fact, these products will experience "loss of functionality" once SP1 is installed.

Microsoft has also come up with a number of security changes to Windows Vista, including updates to BitLocker drive encryption. SP1's other features include multiple networking and performance changes. It is "aligned" with Windows Server 2008, the two operating systems sharing common files in Internet Information Services and concurrent user support. It's a 434.5-megabyte file for 32-bit versions of Vista.

Long been seen by some analysts as the catalyst for broad uptake of the operating system among businesses, the first Windows Vista SP is available for download at official sites of Microsoft and its affiliates.