Windows XP SP2 In Release

mr_tommy writes "Service Pack 2 for Windows XP has been released to manufacturers (RTM), is available to MSDN customers, and will soon be available to all via Windows Update and Microsoft sites. At ~ 250 megs, the download is big, and Microsoft will be offering the option of getting it on CDs. The much awaited Service Pack comes with many security updates (new NX and DEP protection), extra features (firewall, security center), and improvements for Windows. New versions of IE and OE come with the release, as well as improvements in the wireless networking field. So far, the service pack seems to be very stable (no known major issues) and does seem to speed up most systems. A review of SP2 Final with some limited download links is available at Neowin.net. I'd urge all users (pirate users too) to deploy the service pack and benefit from the genuine effort Microsoft have made with regards to security in this release." We did cover this recently but since this is a major deal, we figured people would want to know more.

Comments

The real question

[CodeYoddler]

Does it run on Linux? /sarcasm

Need a new key?

[Anonymous Coward]

PGH3M-FVMWD-VT27J-99T4P-K7YRD
B8HJB-YQ8JG-YDDVM-6 VR8R-6BY9B
FQRB6-6D3Y9-WG7D4-J433K-V3QMJ
QQ7VK-T XMKW-WCT4R-RJ3R2-VX9YJ
WH6RT-BG386-VGJDD-XHPWK-MX 3GQ
P23BM-TH4BF-Y7MGC-GCMBB-XBCQ6
HMV48-HV6VH-YQ G2H-VPCDJ-4DH66
FWWYV-6W2FJ-7G6X3-9T34X-DBDWG
GM 22M-V89QD-F8R9H-THFT8-DFJM6
P8662-GGJBK-C844C-3CV K6-V48YY
XRKRJ-QJVVC-TTH9F-HCB7M-4T9WW
CGYTM-2KV RC-WPCPP-QCQJ4-T2MYW
QCKWG-6XKJT-K7GJM-HKTV3-WPDK Y
JG8MK-VJ37D-4KCG2-369YH-HHJQY
D72KF-PXGX6-JW84 C-FQKRK-FV326
QQB8Q-DMMG8-TYYRP-6X6MW-DT4M6
JRXH M-CTCPW-4QKTY-3MGJ8-HY2GD
VGTB4-T97XB-VWP4W-2KWK7 -4DFV3
G9TYX-D8V7H-WXM2M-DXD9P-3PXHT

This story reads like a love letter to microsoft

[Anonymous Coward]

Has some MS fanboy hijacked slashdot?

Re:sitting

[garcia]

So will just about everyone else who has auto-updates disabled. Many people will never install this patch. Even if they do spend the time to install it they will likely have issues out the ass.

It yells at you if you don't have virus protection enabled. It asks if you want to run your own Firewall but its is enabled by default. If you have both running it could cause you problems.

I don't particularly care for the pop-up blocker and I can't imagine that most users will care for it either.

This is going to be a big hassle for people who don't know what they are doing and it's likely going to be a big hassle for everyone else too.

FCKGW-RHQQ2-.....

[Anonymous Coward]

Anyone knows another -non-blocked- key!?

Re:GOD this color scheme SUCKS

[Anonymous Coward]

mod parent down. the silverish/brownish link is atrocious.

seriously, this sucks. whats next, blue links on white backgrounds!?

Shh..

[maskedbishounen]

I heard some jerkweed hacked it up so after installing SP2, your box is likely fail.

Re:sitting

[mingot]

And most of the complaining will likely be done by open source advocates whose choice of software also has the net effect of putting the same utility programmers out of a job.

M$ is teh bad!1

Re:sitting

[garcia]

It doesn't "yell" at you for not having antivirus software, it announces, and quite rightly too.

Announcing is telling me once and going away (possibly once a boot would be acceptable w/o having to click something else). "Yelling" at me is telling me quite frequently that I don't have it installed.

Another ridiculous thing to say. The popup blocker was the most requested feature, and anytime anyone dissed IE in the past, it included that particular lack. Where do you get these ideas from?

I got them from running the Google toolbar pop-up blocker. It is much easier for me to understand. I can only imagine that it would be easier for someone else as well.

Another ridiculously empty statement: yes, it may be hassle for some people, but they have to learn somewhere. How hard can it be to click "next", "next", "finish"? For every person that goes through installing it, it means _less_ hassle for the rest of us, not more. At this point, it is clear to all that you are just engaging in pointless FUD, either for the sheer fun of trolling or perhaps regrettably, you are as dumb as you sound.

You are such a troll. First off, it's not difficult to download and install, as that wasn't what I was talking about. It is, however, an annoyance that most users will not care to deal with (these are the same people that get trojans, viruses, and spyware because they click YES through everything and fail to read what they are doing). You think that they want firewall and anti-virus notifications to pop-up? You think that they want to have their popups on valid sites not show because they have the pop-up blocker installed by default? I don't.

Re:sitting

[Moridineas]

Wow, an internet explorer joke, how bold.

DEMOCRAT: Dastardly Emotional Midgets, Omitting Clear Reason And Thought.

Re:sitting

[garcia]

I'm a troll? pfff. At least my post had substance based on established fact. Yours was pure conjecture based on guesswork, FUD and hearsay. I have SP2 RTM installed -- you clearly do not -- and it does not constantly annoy you about AV and FW software.

Yet you continue to troll...

Wow, you're wrong, but that's not surprising. I have been running XP SP2 since the story first broke several weeks ago. In fact, I believe I mentioned under that thread that it will not install if you have a key that is not sanctioned by MS. I could have only found that out by running the installer.

You can inform it that you want to handle the monitoring of av/fw s/w manually and it will no longer _inform_ you of this lack.

You sure can with an additional mouse click in a little box (unless they changed it from the version I am running it is the same). People don't like clicking anything other than YES/NO/CANCEL. Other checkboxes scare them.

Secondly, I believe we are trying to talk about the merits of SP2, not the idiocy/laziness of the general computer using populace.

The merits of SP2 can only be discussed while making the point that it still takes a human behind the monitor to make it work correctly. The easier you make it for people to use the more likely it is that they will use it, thus raising the "merit level" of the update. Slashdotters have a lot more faith in the general public than I do (even going so far as to believe that people running Linux will be better protected) but what they fail to understand is the direct link between human failure and OS failure. Thus it is very important to discuss both.

Some of these people that you talk of probably think they have AV software installed, or perhaps it's not up to date. Anything that will make ppl take a second look and perhaps learn something is GOOD in my book.

Again you are giving the end users too much credit. I have already mentioned that these users are the same ones that blindly click YES to move through annoying boxes that show up on their screen. Do you really think that they are going to give it a second look especially when it is nothing more than an annoyance?

Thank you for pointless rebuttal, and good luck with the idle conjectures.

Thank you for your troll.

IBM Says don't got there!!

[wizzy403]

IBM is telling their customers NOT to deploy -- that it is unstable and can wreck systems. Computerworld Article

Re:IBM Says don't got there!!

[wizzy403]

Why is it a troll to point out that IBM is telling people not to download/install this SP because it is unstable, with a link to an article in Computerworld backing it up??? Mods on crack...

Is this the patch...

[robot captain]

...that makes it fun?

Just installed it at work....

[iXiXi]

Just pulled the 450+ mb ISO off of msdn and installed it. Seems to be working ok at the moment. Tthere aare ssome llittle tthings err wtf was that? err...uninstall.. hehe

Re:250 mb is nothing!

[sqrt(2)]

Oh cool, will it run on my machine with an AMD processor? Oh? It wont? Well then maybe you need to STFU.