Windows XP SP2 Goes Gold

writertype writes "PC Magazine reports that Microsoft has released Windows XP SP2 to PC OEMs after a two-day delay. A package of stories, complete with an exploration of the new update, is here. The best way for users to get the update, according to Microsoft, is to have Windows Update turned on; a CD version will be made available." Reader Critical_ writes "With all the news of SP2 being delayed, it seems like Microsoft may have pulled a rabbit out of its hat by releasing RTM on its WindowsBeta site. Neowin has a screenshot of the download page and MSFN has the release information. The final build is 2180. For those who can't download it for whatever reason, Microsoft is giving away free CDs here. Happy installing."

Comments

So

[Anonymous Coward]

does anyone know what incompatibilities it introduces yet?

I'm a sysadmin mulling over exactly when 'enough people' will have tested it to deploy and roll out myself.

Jabba the Lawyer

Re:So

[hazem]

Yeah, but why rush to wreck them when you can let other people do it! If anything, it's a waste of time to test it when you can wait to find out problems may affect you. Hopefully the rest of your infrastructure is secure enough to weather another 2 weeks without SP2. If not, you have bigger problems!

So who pays,

[DoraLives]

if this dog eats your homework?

What about Win2K SP5?

[Anonymous Coward]

There are still enough of us who prefer Win2K to XP. There have been multiple remote vulnerabilities exposed since SP4. So how about rolling up the latest hotfixes and giving us SP5?

Erm..

[sinner0423]

A friend of a friend would like to know..

Since version 5 of windows update refuses to let anyone with a corporate key download this, does anybody have any legitimate mirrors for SP2?

Also, apparently, neowin reports SP2 accepts those evil keys.

It makes one wonder.. why allow SP2 to install on pirated copies, but refuse to let people update via the windows update site?

Torrents---which one is "right" ??

[NeoSkandranon]

I'm seeing torrents for several diff file sizes (266 and 271mb) ....whats the difference?

RC2

[dfj225]

I've had the SP2 RC2 on my box for some time now. I'm actually surprised by how stable it has been. I've even been able to play Doom 3 with no crashes. I can't really say how the security improvements are, but the one thing that I have noticed is that wireless networking seems to have improved much. Also, it doesn't seem like the firewall was working too well (at least for outbound traffic).

Re:Hmmm

[Tony Hoyle]

So?

I bet a lot more than 3 out of 5 home users machines are full of spyware too. ..and they're just about to get a visit from 'Mister Servicepack'.

Oh dear....

Meh...

[Hosehead17]

We actually got an e-mail alert today from the company that makes our phone system server and client software that said if we installed XP SP2 it would break their software. Oh, and they have a patch forthcoming for the latest version, which we've had issues upgrading too. I don't know if this is Microsoft's fault or the company that wrote the software, most likely a little of both, but we won't be deploying for a while. The patch for our version isn't going to be release immediately. How many others are having this problem?

Trickle-down downloads

[SilentChris]

I found this line interesting:

"Microsoft will use metered downloads to update users steadily without bogging down the entire Internet."

*Strokes chin* How do they do this, exactly? By IP? By Product Key? What determines when someone will get it?

Hopefully we'll see SP2 on Torrents soon.

The Firewall

[hawaiian717]

From one of the PCMag articles:

Microsoft has included a programmatic interface for Windows Firewall that allows an application to do things like set FirewallEnabled to FALSE, add itself to the list of AuthorizedApplications, or change the configuration of GloballyOpenPorts. Our concern here is that a malicious application could turn off Windows Firewall or, more likely, mark itself as an authorized application. Corporate administrators can disable some or all local configurations, which will prevent programs from making changes; but ultimately, Microsoft maintains, individuals still have to be smart about what apps they run. Even the best deadbolt won't protect your house once you've let the bad guys in.

I agree with PCMag on this. Microsoft still doesn't get it. To continue the Microsoft analogy, they gave the bad guys a key to the deadbolt.

Looks like I'll be continuing to ignore the built in firewall in favor of a real one.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1631256,00.as p

Hmph

[bmetz]

Put SP2 on two machines
on one of my laptops, it worked fine. Done.

On my desktop, I can no longer see the contents of my second NTFS drive. Uninstalling SP2 leaves me still unable to see it.

Ugh, and it seemed like a decent upgrade besides that.

Re:Hmmm

[bitty]

Please give me a reason why this is NOT valid reason. I personally hate sys admins who like to abuse power and make other people's jobs harder. In fact, everyone should have local administrative access - there is no reason for them not to. Just give it with the caveat that if they muck up, they're on their own.

Try telling that to the company president after they've installed enough spyware/adware to effectively cripple their machines. Any admin worth their pay is going to have automated tools to take care of just about anything that comes up for installs and system changes. If someone needs something, all I have to do is push out the package and it's installed in the background while they're still working. When the little blinky thing disappears from their system tray, they know they can use it.

Giving the average user admin privileges on their machine is a foolish act, and is asking for all sorts of extra hours cleaning up preventable problems. Hell, my own account doesn't even have admin, I have to log in with a separate one for that.