RSSWindows XP SP2 Delay Deadline Looms
By David Worthington | Published February 26, 2005, 2:58 PM
Microsoft has given notice to Service Pack 2 laggards that "time is running out." A notice is now emblazoned on a Knowledge Base article for a tool that temporarily blocks the delivery of SP2, reminding customers that the April 12 deadline is approaching.
After the deadline passes, the service pack will be delivered to all Windows XP systems through the automatic updates mechanism.
The notice reads: "Time is running out! Please note that the mechanism to temporarily disable delivery of Windows XP SP2 is only available for a period of 240 days (8 months) from August 16, 2004. At the end of this period (after April 12, 2005), Windows XP SP2 will be delivered to all Windows XP and Windows XP Service Pack 1 systems."
The tool was Microsoft's response to customer feedback and fears of disruptions from software incompatibles brought on by the upgrade. In essence, it provides network administrators with additional time to validate their installations outside of valuable production environments.
Microsoft extended the lifetime of the update blocking utility from 120 days to 240 days, in order to match what is called typical planning and testing schedules.
Windows XP Service Pack 2 is far-reaching update that modifies core Windows functionality, plugs security holes and introduces new security features.
But SP2 introduces so many changes that customers at some large organizations, including IBM, issued directives instructing IT personnel to stall the adoption of the service pack until network administrators were certain that mission critical business applications were not incompatible.
The upgrade installs a new version of Internet Explorer with a built-in pop-up blocker and download manager; memory protection against buffer overruns; e-mail safeguards in Outlook Express; a stateful inspection firewall; refined permissions in RPC and DCOM; Windows Security Center; as well as extra security settings for Windows Media Player 9.
You might defer the update by switching to "manual" updates, but eventually, MS will stop posting updates for pre-SP2 systems. At that point, you will have to come up to SP2 to keep current. They've stated this many times. They did that with NT 4.0 SP3 and again with SP6, as well as how vertical products work on top of which OS/SP levels. Eventually, they dictate where you go, if you decide to follow their roads that is.
Score: 0
|Doesn't look to good for me . I tried installing sp2 and my machine just crashs and doesn't boot again, then i need to re-install windows. Can u turn the update off, or are you being forced to update ?
Score: 0
|OK... I just turned that off!
I prefer periodic manual updates through Windows Update anyway :P
Score: 0
|best way to minimize piracy would be by lowering those ridiculous prices they keep asking.
Score: 0
|the prices aren't actually bad when you think about it. most home users will buy the OS pre-bundled with an OEM computer. most of the remaining qualify for an upgrade and only need Home edition so that's only $99. even if they shipped XP Reloaded or whatever in late 2005 that'll mean that for $99 you got an OS for 4 years with free updates. sure if you buy now it seems like a rip off but you won't see the prices drop till after the next version comes out, that's how the market works. if you're buying the OS flat out look down the "OEM" bundled route and you'll save some dough. you're also investing in a future upgrade since upgrades cost less. it sucks to have to pay up front but its worth it in the end.
Score: 0
|Yea, but OEMs have negative side effects too... There's people like me who just want the hardware, and due to MS's "anti piracy" program, are unable to call up a computer manufacture of any good reputation, and say "I'd like a PC, with no software installed." They force windows down my throat, even though I have no intention of using it...
MS seems to think that I owe them $100 or more for a copy of windows just because I use a computer. SP2, while fixing and introducing a slew of problems, still is an attempt at that, and their "Genuine Advantage" program for downloads to their other software is also a problem. Yea, I don't think I should have access to windows patches. But they also release freeware and other software (legally) that works perfectly well under Wine, and according to the EULA never says I have to own/use windows to use it...
MS has a lot of growing up to do IMO... They started out as a smart 6 year old, trying to get the attention and hang out with the older crowd (IBM, Digital, etc) and now that they have their attention, they're going into their teenage years of "I'm always right" and not listening to anybody unless they want to... And I, for one, am quite tired of it...
Score: 0
|I suppose you believe everything should be free...
Score: 0
|there's an important thing to rememeber. Dell sells PCs made and supported for Windows (and red hat). HP/Compaq, Gateway, Sony and Alienware do the same. Apple does the same with OS X. They do this because they know that in the end they're going to have to support the computer. They also don't want to sell a barebones computer that some other company could resell under the wrong name. These companies are end of the line machines so if you want a computer without an OS, you can't buy from them. It's not MS's fault, its just the companies business model. That leaves companies like Frys, NewEgg, TigerDirect and even Best Buy (to a point) where you can buy just barebones machines without incurring the cost of OS, support or any of the other things the packaged companies throw in.
as for why the big names don't sell linux usually, well that's just because that opens a whole new can of worms for support nightmares. (and i'm not bashing linux, i'm just saying that the average user can't figure which version of Windows their running, linux would be a nightmare for a helpdesk to support. and that's who the people would call if there was a problem.)
also, the OEM thing I was talking about was buying a piece of hardware with the OS to qualify. MS changed the wording so say something like "integral part of the computer" which is still pretty vague and even in my opninion a CPU fan might qualify.
Score: 0
|Did he say free? It doesn't look like he said free to me.
Score: 0
|They don't stop recalling dangerous products in any other market after 4 years.
Score: 0
|you're absolutely correct. however, this isn't other markets. if this were other markets, software piracy wouldn't be as much of an issue because in other markets "stealing" generally means "i have something and someone takes it." but in the software market stealing means "i have something and someone takes an exact copy of it, but i still have mine).
this is software which, let's face it, has a shelf life and essentially an expiration date. XP's shelf life ends in 2006 and its expiration date is scheduled for 2011, 10 years after it was released. to put that into context, Windows 3.11 was still the active product 10 years ago (95 was released 08/95). are there companies that support 3.11 still? yes, but very few. MS has for years published the expiration date of software on their product life cycle page. granted most people don't know its there.
Score: 0
|How is software any different than the firmware in my DVD player, or the guts of my car stereo? If there's a serious problem it would be recalled. Software is an imprint on a CD, many would argue with me but the concept that software is any different than text in a book is nonsence. Maybe it's a copyright violation, but it's not "theft".
Score: 0
|how is it different? software doesn't get recalled, it gets patched. i understand that you're making an analogy but it falls apart at that point. if there was something so bad that happens after 2011 that breaks XP (which might be on SP3 by then) which wasn't mitigated by MS's "best practices" (firewalls, etc) then based on the number of people still running the OS they might still patch it. but they've given (in my opinion, at least) fair warning that in 6+ years they won't support the OS anymore.
as for the definition of theft, i won't go down that road too far. depending on the industry and country that you're dealing with there are different definitions of the term and sometimes better ones. i do agree that copyright infringement would be a better term, but i also think that in this specific industry the common simple term for "copyright infringement" is theft. is it theft of software, or theft of a license of software? that's a discussion that would be fun over a couple of drinks. ;)
Score: 0
|:-)
Score: 0
|Most (I know, not all) home users running SP1 aren't running software that will break under SP2, so this is mostly for corporate users. I would assume a large number of corporate users are using SUS for updating. In SUS you can set the updates to be manually approved before installing so for the people using SUS (which is free) this is also a non-issue. There will be computers out there that will break under SP2, but the numbers are very small. There are also computers running NT4 that can't go to 2k/2003, but once again these numbers are small. Almost everyone I know that was afraid to go to SP2 was because they were running a pirated copy of XP and heard so horror/reinstall stories. The remaining people didn't like the firewall which can be disabled if you're that paranoid.
Please everyone, update.
Score: 0
|Why is disabling Windows firewall "paranoid"? It doesn't block outbound communication from unknown spyware, trojans, etc. Of course they had to cripple it in order not to step on the toes of third-party developers, and there's that thing about sending whatever's fit back to the Redmond Mothership. ;)
Score: 0
|What fool wouldn't upgrade to SP2? 15% boost in games over SP1 (which blew chunks anyway), almost 20% boost in overall system performance. WinXP Pro Install CD's with SP2 slipstreamed (for some unknown reason) install quicker off a fresh format. Oh, if you know somebody that already has an XP Pro install CD, find the correct COA sticker to go with it (you can buy them online...just search). There's OEM, Retail, ACAD, and Corp stickers...just gotta match the right sticker with the right CD, that's the only trick.
Score: 0
|one of the reasons several parties including microsoft stated was because xp sp2 could "break' some application compatibilities. personally, if everything was running fine to begin with on a sp1 system, I say why bother with taking that risk upgrading to sp2?
Score: 0
|Ah yes...
It broke those ancient versions of applications which people insisted on running despite there being several newer updates/patches. I take it you haven't looked at the list? Its interesting as its mainly software which is now the thick end of 2 years old and for which there is a free update available.
Score: 0
|Oh my God!! I better hurry and install SP2 and save the world...Oh that's right..my O/S is Linux! no need
Score: 0
|lucky you :-)
I don't want to install SP2 until I have to re-install windows (i'm on my world record of 11 months without re-installing) But soon, I will be forced to install SP2 anyway.. Maybe I will block MS with my firewall.
Score: 0
|This should stop some of the infected systems
from sending out all that spam out.... Save your
money an BUY a legal version of WindowsXP ...
It costs around $200 ... I know it's alot ....
but remember its your main operating system. Alot
of freeware is out there so, you don't have to
pay for it. The latest thing now is anti-virus
software. Their are 3 or 4 good free versions on
the net for home use. Also, Microsoft just
released some anti-spyware software. Its free
too. I hear they will be releasing some AV apps
too ... It might be free, but you never know
till its released. I'm looking forward to seeing
what they can do with a AV app.
If you don't like what they are doing DON"T
use there PRODUCTS ..... GOTO to Linux ....
Score: 0
|$99.99 for XP Home OEM and $159.99 for XP Pro OEM at Fry's Outpost... Just requires you buy a piece of hardware with it, like a $5.00 CPU fan. :-)
Score: 0
|Not for long. :) M$ wants to plug that hole as well.
Score: 0
|same old crap.
Score: -1
|Well MS, did say they wanted to find a new way to stop piracy. This seems to be a perfect tool to do just that, according to sources if a pirated copy of XP is on a system that is about to aquire SP2 it could lock the system out or deny it's request and send a report across the network to MS with the error code.
Score: 0
|thats a good idear perhape we all should claim of mirosoft for selling o. s. that are always needing patches and updates
Score: 0
|Do what?
Score: 0
|Guess? You can get a copy of the Corp. with SP2 already intergrated. In fact you can get it directly from Microsoft for free if you know where to get it from. :-) Plus, there are plenty of other Corp. versions out there with SP2 slip streamed as well. Too little, too late.
Score: 0
|$97.00, free shipping for Home Update version (not OEM)
www.atomicpark.com
Score: 0
|To whomever states updating to SP2 is a no-brainer because everything works better, that person must be enclosed in their own self-contained and one-computer world. I've seen plenty (no, not lots) of things break following an SP2 upgrade. For example, the wireless networking in both my computers hasn't worked half as well since the upgrade than it did beforehand. And Microsoft's solution to that? I've received no response from their so-called MVPs in Microsoft's forums other than, "__it happens." Meanwhile, each and everyday I continue to suffer from Microsoft's incompetence and imposed inconvenience with the problem.
Score: 0
|I agree with that. My laptop doesn't function in range as well as it did with sp1 when using sp2... odd, but it's true
Score: 0
|Things might break, but if you practice proper upgrade protocol, ie: backing up your data and downloading all the newest drivers for your hardware, before installing any service pack, your problems and worries will be greatly diminished.
And but ther way, when pay for a copy of Windows or any other software package from any other company, not just Microsoft, you but a license to use the software. You don't actually own the software.
And for those of you that are really upset the most common name M$ is Microshaft. Come on people get it right. ;)
Score: 0
|