WindowsXP SP2

[CareBear]

A lot of people I know have been downloading unofficial SP2s from websites or P2P programs. Quite a few of those are not the final build, but earlier release candidates and at least one has been reported (as yet unverified) to have been altered to include god knows what.

I would expect people to have more common sense than to download OS patches from an unknown source. :shame:

For those who really can't wait on the Windows Update, or those that have multiple computers that need updating: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...BE-3B8E-4F30-8245-9E368D3CDB5A&displaylang=en
The offline install download is 266Mb, the download that will be launched on Windows Update will be 60-80Mb depending on if you have XP Home or XP Pro and finally, those who don't have access to broadband will be able to order a copy of the SP2 CD for free from Microsoft.
(The Windows Update will only download what's appropriate for you, the offline install includes all the patches for XP Home, XP Pro and XP Tablet PC, hence the big difference in file size)

Some programs won't agree with some of the changes in SP2 so my personal suggestion would be that you wait a week or two after it's generally available so that you can read up on what could break (if anything) and check to see if there's a patch for it on the company's site.

One of the clearest descriptions of the changes you'll notice that I've read so far is:

The following is what I like to call "The Average Users'
Guide to Windows XP Service Pack 2"... It is intended as a
summary of the important changes that real, every day
users of Windows actually care about... and less about the
techy details of the "Changes in Functionality" document.

1. The overall look and feel of Windows will be
essentially the same... no "usability" changes worth
noting for the average user.

2. Windows Firewall is enabled by default. This is a big
deal because it means any incoming traffic is controlled.
In most cases, it will only be "noticable" when a user
tries to run a program or use a service that wants
to "listen" for connections... Then you will receive a
prompt that asks permission for it to do just that...
listen. Otherwise, it will leave you alone.

3. Security Center is present and monitors your Automatic
Updates, Antivirus, and Firewall settings. If you leave
the settings alone and you keep your products up to date,
you'll likely never see it, and it will leave you alone.
If you change settings, it will get really angry with you
and nag you until you fix the problem.

4. Internet Explorer (IE) and Outlook Express (OE) have
many functionality improvements with security. OE will
block external images and HTML content until you grant it
permission to load. It also has better attachment
handling. IE has a popup blocker (finally!!), so you can
get rid of Google and Yahoo and MSN toolbars unless you
*really* want them. IE alsoo has a "Security Information
Bar" which will block a LOT of potentially dangerous
content until you explicitly tell it that you want the
content. It will also nag you that content can be
dangerous and to proceed with caution. IE also has an "Add-
in Manager", so when IE is having problems you can go into
those settings and disable add-ins... like browser
hijackers for example.

5. Automatic Updates is enabled by default, and it's MUCH
BETTER at managing bandwidth... especially on dialup
connections. This means that even dialup users can
continue to surf the web and downloads will occur
gradually, so that systems can stay up to date without
much hassle to the end user. The one concern worth noting
is that when automatic updates have finished downloading,
it will nag you to death until you agree to install them.
Also, it will nag you until you reboot (if necessary). And
if somehow you manage to ignore the nagging long enough,
they will automatically install when you try to shutdown
or restart the computer. Bottom line is that it is
difficult to ignore the updates now (which is a good
thing, in my opinion).

6. Lots and lots and lots of behind-the-scenes security
enhancements that make Windows more stable and more secure
and allow the OS to better protect itself (and ultimately
the user)... things that really don't matter much to end
users until things don't work as expected... and then
there are sufficient warning dialogs and prompts to better
educate users of dangers (providing of course that the
user actually reads them instead of just clicking OK like
a blind mouse).

Microsoft's official page for learning about the changes and how to use some of the new features can be found at: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/default.mspx

I know this should go in the Computers forum, but more people might read it here and some of the changes people should be aware of before installing.

 

[trenzterra]

Microsoft's server is darn slow today. 5 hours till download completes...

 

[tandoc]

god bless bittorrent. see, it does have its legitimate uses

 

[Dark_Element]

Windows sux to begin with so why bother with it all? after losing a whole day's work because it crashed at the last minute (when its saving) i lost what is left of my alreaidy small faith in windows

note: Linux Rocks!!! almost all distros are better than windows. cos there are so many of em...

 

[CareBear]

god bless bittorrent. see, it does have its legitimate uses

I doubt that whoever started the torrent had Microsoft's consent to distribute the service pack, hence not a legitimate use.
Microsoft's download servers remained steady at nearly 800Kb/s for me when I downloaded SP2, and a bigger concern: how would you know it's the official RTM version or worse, one that's been tampered with? :confused4

 

[tandoc]

god bless md5sums. (ie. ask a friend who already downloaded something from fileplanet when i resort to bittorrent, queues suck!)

sure it may not be legal, but i doubt microsoft denounces it.

and please STFU Dark_Element.

don't bring your linux bullshit here. no one cares if you think linux is superior. its personal preferrence, so keep linux out of a windows thread.

 

[CareBear]

god bless md5sums. (ie. ask a friend who already downloaded something from fileplanet when i resort to bittorrent, queues suck!)

How did your friend know that what (s)he downloaded was an RTM untampered version. AFAIK the fileplanets links were dismissed on the Microsoft newsgroups as being a release candidate.
The point I'm trying to make is: you won't get an official, fool proof md5 hash from Microsoft to compare it to, and even if you do bother to ask around and get people to share their MD5 hashes, how do you know they're so sure that they have the real thing?

What you should have done was right click on the file, pick properties and check that the file was digitally signed by Microsoft. It wouldn't tell you if it was SP2 RTM, but it would guarantee that noone tampered with it.

Edited to add that if Microsoft's estimation is correct and SP2 will make it to 100 million internet connected PCs, I've been wondering what the impact will be on sites that currently generate revenue from pop up ads.

 

[trenzterra]

Sites such as Neowin has released the MD5 keys. And they were BETA testers, so they tested the version they got from MSDN.

And Dark Element, you posted that just in time... I wrote an article about people comparing Linux to Windows for my upcoming ezine yesterday.

LINUX VERSUS WINDOWS
Can people stop comparing them?!
Written by Reuben Chew
9th August 2004

I just hate it when people start talking about Linux vs. Windows. It's about what the user wants to use. If they want to stay with good ol' Windows, fine. They can patch up their Windows ever so often if they want to. After all, they are happy with the operating system.

If you're happy with make installing and compiling new kernels every now and then, fine. You can stay with Linux if you want. After all, the choice is yours.

It's not about security that determines what end users such as the typical Joe want to use. It's what the user is comfortable with. Maybe Joe is a lazy chap, and he prefers people compiling stuff which he can just click and click to install. Or maybe he wants the most customised package in the world, compiling what he needs and leaving out what he doesn't need.

I beg everyone out there to stop comparing the two operating systems. This includes the Mac OS users as well. Stop comparing. And stop persuading your friends to convert to the operating system named [insert name here], unless they really aren't satisfied with what they're using. They like their operating system, so why bother? Just leave them alone.

If people stop comparing stuff and persuading people to convert to this and that, this world would be a much better place, I tell you.

 

[cowax]

Windows sux to begin with so why bother with it all? after losing a whole day's work because it crashed at the last minute (when its saving) i lost what is left of my alreaidy small faith in windows

Stop running every thing at once and take care of your computer, and it shouldnt crash. I leave this machine on for several weeks at a time, and its running on 2000 pro.

And trenz, it doesnt matter what you or anyone says about any operating systems. Its like intel vs amd, domestic vs imports, and my stuff vs your stuff. As long as there are differences, there will be comparisons.

 

[trenzterra]

Yeah, and if you don't want to lose your data, ALWAYS BACKUP. It is foolish not to do so.

 

[Robert]

You know something.. in the 12 years that I've been using Windows, *never* have I lost data. Sure my computer has frozen (when I had 98), but MS Word was good at recovering my data.

With XP, my computer never freezes (unless hardware is at fault), and I enver lose my data. I'm more worried about my hdd crashing then Windows crashing.

But then again I maintain my system with weekly scans, such as anti-virus, adware, spybot, registry cleanup, remove of unneeded programs/files, defrag, etc.