Windows XP SP2

[D-Bone]

Well, its out. So far, I'm impressed. Get it here:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/1/6/5/165b076b-aaa9-443d-84f0-73cf11fdcdf8/WindowsXP-KB835935-SP2-ENU.exe

I really think this will cut down on spyware infections. I can't wait until Windows Update gets this and customers start using it. New firewall is nice. Also there are supposed to be updated wireless setup that rocks. I'm downloading on the laptop now, we'll see how much it rocks.

Overall, good job Microsoft!

[D-Bone]

Looking good, new wireless looks tight.

Note for Symantec users. NAV2004 editions aren't detected by the windows security center properly and a patch should be available soon. Everything still works perfectly though. NAV corp users do have a patch available. Get it here: http://www.symantec.com/techsupp/enterprise/products/sav_ce/savce_9.0/files.html
You will need your NAV corp media during the patch update, just an FYI.

[Kyraath]

I think we're going to hold off on the distribution of this service pack for a little bit. The list of things it breaks is a little too long and too closely matches the services we are running. There are going to be plenty of problems to work out for anyone on a domain but this is going to be great for all those users. We're going to set up a few machines here and patch them and work out the bugs. I just hope they don't rush the windowsupdate push so that we can get it all smoothed out before people start pulling it down.

[D-Bone]

Windows Update release is scheduled for August 25th last I heard.

[Malice]

I think we're going to hold off on the distribution of this service pack for a little bit. The list of things it breaks is a little too long and too closely matches the services we are running. There are going to be plenty of problems to work out for anyone on a domain but this is going to be great for all those users. We're going to set up a few machines here and patch them and work out the bugs. I just hope they don't rush the windowsupdate push so that we can get it all smoothed out before people start pulling it down.

I figured there would be a lot of things that it breaks. It changes a lot of stuff, the interface and everything. The best part about it is that the stupid end user can still click their favorite OK button when spyware tries to install and it doesn't do anything, yeah!!!

[D-Bone]

Also, just found out... Nero version 6 Ultra needs to be updated for SP2 compatibility. Get the patch here: http://www.nero.com/us/nero-up.php

Its nice to see these companies making patches for SP2 compliance.

[{OOE}Death]

So those idiots at MS are going to push it through automatic updates or what? If that's the case I have loads of machines I haveto turn off auto update on.

[D-Bone]

So those idiots at MS are going to push it through automatic updates or what? If that's the case I have loads of machines I haveto turn off auto update on.

Easy there tiger.... this is a very essential update and the best way to get it out to end users is through automatic updates. Those so-called "idiots" have done an amazing job with this update.

[D-Bone]

Just noticed a new update for Norton 2004 when you launch LiveUpdate. It adds Norton WMI to the list of updates and then when you run Live Update again it updates the WMI. I can't confirm if this is the SP2 fix or not but it appears that way. Just a heads up.

[Phantom]

So how does all this affect me? A know nothing snot nosed gamer! :oops:

[{OOE}Death]

So those idiots at MS are going to push it through automatic updates or what? If that's the case I have loads of machines I have to turn off auto update on.

Easy there tiger.... this is a very essential update and the best way to get it out to end users is through automatic updates. Those so-called "idiots" have done an amazing job with this update.

Yeah well with everything it breaks in a corporate environment I'm gonna be screwwed. They better make it so that if you're part of a domain it won't auto install. This sucks.

[Ghost]

Calm down Chicken Little. The sky is not falling. :P

The fact is that most stuff won't be affected. Some limited vertical market apps may break, and stuff like pushing AV to a PC will not work without tweaks to the firewall, but most of the major apps should work without issue.

The fact is though that some stuff IS going to break. For a home user, this is an inconvenience when your DIVX breaks (which supposedly it does with SP2). For a business it is an emergency when one of their apps break, and people stop being able to do their job. We are way too busy to have to deal with any of these emergencies.

For multi-PC environments I'd recommend that you follow one of the practices outlined here: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/maintain/sp2aumng.mspx. Then install a test system and see what breaks on it. If all is good, you can turn back on the auto-update or deploy the update via another method.

For home users, I'd recommend at least checking to see if some of the major products like AV and any critical apps still work properly with SP2. You may still want to wait if you don't want your computer to have issues, Microsoft traditionally will find a bunch of extra issues after a major release like this. If things seem to be working for most people after a month, and they haven't re-released the SP, you can consider the SP a must have.

BTW, another thing I've heard that is broken in SP2 is programs like Kazaa. Supposedly there is a 10 connection limit somewhere, probably in ICF. They are trying to figure a way to hack around it, but as you can imagine it turns most file-sharing clients into super slow dl apps.

[{OOE}Death]

Amen to being too busy. At leat MS is sort of listening to corporate users. Looks like I Havesome more reading to do. Thanks for the link.

[D-Bone]

BTW, another thing I've heard that is broken in SP2 is programs like Kazaa... ...it turns most file-sharing clients into super slow dl apps.

And this is bad because why? Screw that spyware spreading POS. You need MP3's? All you need is Easynews. ;)

[Ghost]

The word is that it prevents any program that creates more than 10 connections. That means IE, a DL accelerator, anything. This isn't bad for most programs, but the really high end network transfer stuff will have issues. It will slow down the spread of network worms though, so maybe the trade off is worth while. Unfortunately it probably is only a matter of time before they figure out a way around it, which is good for high network use programs, but bad for slowing down viruses.