Vista copies files like a duck

Odd title - but let me explain... I think everyone in the industry has complained about Vista's seeming inability to copy files quickly. Like a duck, it just seems to float along in no particular rush to get to the 100% mark. Maybe it looks like it is progressing quickly at one point - only to suddenly get distracted by something shiny and slow things down again. We can't believe the glacial pace of these copies and keep telling ourselves that Vista MUST be doing something remarkable in the background to justify these results.

Well, it turns out that just like a duck, Vista has indeed been paddling mightily below the surface the whole time. Mark Russinovich does a great job of describing what has been happening in his blog article: Inside Vista SP1 File Copy Improvements. This is a must read article. It really helped me to understand what has been going on and to realize that despite appearances to the contrary, technology is moving forward.

This article is going to kick off a new topic in my blog called "Windows Explorer". This is probably the last time I will have anything positive to say about that product. I have observed many other Windows Explorer behaviors that I will be discussing.