Microsoft's latest version of its Windows operating system hasn't exactly been hailed as a boon to gamers, with early wonky driver support, a hit or miss Games Explorer and a handful of Vista-only releases that made little sense. But now that the OS has had time to mature, getting a few hotfixes under its belt, its more than serviceable. With Service Pack 1 coming this month, you may wonder if the big download and two hour install is worth sprinting to, rather than ambling toward.

ExtremeTech took a long, hard look at the improvements, not just on the file and operations side, but those that appeal to PC gamers. In addition to the requisite 3DMark and PCMark benchmarks, performance reviews against Company of Heroes, Supreme Command and Crysis provide insight. The good news? It's faster, with the exception of Crysis, which suffers under certain circumstances.

Bar chart heaven awaits upgraders at ExtremeTech.

Vista Shootout: Hotfixes Vs. SP1 [ExtremeTech]

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