Today, I downloaded Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Release Candidate and my first impressions of the changes are good. There are not many user interface changes, but the performance issues and annoyances are noticeable. The one user interface change is most notable is the removal of the search button from the start menu. To clarify, this isn’t the removal of the quick search box as some had though. The search box is still there and very easy to use. Another change in search is that third parties, such as Google, can now build their search tools right into Vista. In terms of performance, I noticed a few things right away. First, copying files and folders was MUCH better. This was one of the biggest annoyances of Vista, and it appears to be fixed. I haven’t played around with this long enough to notice if program stability is improved, but I never really had a problem with that pre service pack 1. There are other improvements in the areas of security and more back end stuff that the user won’t really notice, but are still important. Overall, I think this is a good step forward for Windows Vista especially for businesses who have been holding off.