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Is it Safe to Use Win XP SP2, Yet?
An anonymous reader asks: "I have to run Win XP for work. However, I have not had the urge to download and install SP2 due to all of the problems that I've heard. Are lots of people still having problems with it? I know I don't have any viruses or spyware, and no, Linux is not an option. I am a consultant and my hardware has to match the client. I have done plenty of searching, but nobody has really followed up and shown what is currently happening with SP2, just what was happening when it was released. Did M$oft release any patches for SP2 yet to fix some of the reported issues? I do use a wireless network, and heard it messes up the connections. Is that true? Thanks for any help." Update: 09/18 04:15 EDT by C : Apparently there may still be some performance issues with XP-SP2, as this later article illustrates, however it may not be so bad as the article makes it out to be. Some readers are suggesting that the performance hit is due to bounds checking in the code, so it begs the question: Would you prefer a slower app that has more security, or a faster app that suffers from typical vulnerabilities that might bite you big-time, later?
M$oft? And here I thought this was going to be a serious question.
Is that a real poncho? I mean, is that a Mexican poncho or is that a Sears poncho?
We use Windows XP on a few machines primarily used for research, and we've patched with little difficulty. All of our hardware has worked fine.
However, the machines run a very specific set of programs with little "internet" contact. XP-SP2 seems mostly to provide "buffer" for Netziens surfing around on unprotected machines having little 'net experience, which, lets all be fair, is a disasterous situation.
Bottom line, however, is that Windows XP, or any other operating system, can't stop people from doing ignorant things. Most of these things are *ignorant*, and not stupid - people who don't know proper procedures can't be expected to suddenly abide by them.
There's three of us in my office, and I'm the one smacking my colleagues if they don't run Windows Update in a timely manner. The day SP2 came out, I told them to hold off until those on the front lines had installed it and reported back via some web forum or other. Later that week, the shit hit the fan, and I acquired a sagely aura (which can be kinda awkward in a small office) for sparing us the pain.
So as far as I'm concerned, SP2 has convinced those around me that the things I say (and often scream, spittle and all) about Windows are to be obeyed promptly, which means that SP2 has already made the XP boxes at our organization measurably more secure.
Thanks, Microsoft!
Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
Windows XP SP2, on one hand, does indeed break LOTS of things, but from what I've found, if it was atleast designed for Windows 2000/XP it should work flawlessly, but otherwise maybe. I've had some old (NT4 and Win95) apps break, but thats about it. On the other hand, there are tons of security bugfixes and to top it off, it makes IE more useable (though I perfer Firefox ;-). Some of these security things can be annoying (security center), others good (IE warns before running downloaded files), and others bad (SP2 breaks NMap and other port scanners).
All in all, I'd suggest installing it on a nonessential computer (or VMWare machine) and see if you like/need it. But remember, either you adopt it now, or you adopt it later, but you will eventually have to run it!
> VMWare is not cheap
Is is cheap - less than $200
That's a lot cheaper than a whole other PC, at least
And it's really great to have - fast, convenient, etc
So, IE crashed and you replaced it with Firefox. Excuse me for being
ingnorant but I don't see the failure/bad thing here...
I've been running Linux at work since 1999. I've been running my Lotus Notes and other Windows things with VMWare since 1999 as well. In that amount of time, I've earned roughly $400,000 in salary. I've upgraded VMWare three times as well ($300 for version 1, $70 version 2, $99 version 3, $99 version 4). At least that's what I think I spent for all those. Still cheap.
No weapon in the arsenals of the world is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men.-Ronald Reagan