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XP SP2 Adoption Lagging Overseas
Vizquel wrote to mention an eWeek article reporting that Microsoft is frustrated with the lack of Service Pack 2 usage overseas. From the article: "During a keynote at the Security Summit East here, McKee said Microsoft has so far distributed more than 250 million copies of XP SP2 to provide a hardened shell around the operating system but the low upgrade levels remains a disappointment."
He then hurtled a chair in the direction of Japan.
<sarcasm>I wonder if more people would adopt XP SP2 if Gates got David Letterman to comment on the Micro, Soft security (like Win95 http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/total-shar e.ars/8)
Or maybe they could plug in a USB device and demonstrate how stable the system is, like Gates did for Win98 (http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9804/20/gates.c omdex/)</sarcasm>
Such as?
Not to mention SP2 refuses to install on pirated keys... Piracy rate is pretty high in far east countries like China, ya know.
Honestly, this is by far the most uninteresting and useless slashdot headline I've ever seen. I'll take troll hits if necessary. For the love of god, why would I care if someone updates to service pack 2 or not? Christ!
"Recursive bipartite matching"- try it!
I am wondering if he is referring to the upgrades of licensed copies. If not countries such as China and others with almost institutionalized software piracy might cause this lack of upgrades. If it is for licensed versions, I could assume a lack of bandwidth being somewhat limiting. I personally have had no issues with XP SP2 either time I installed it, but the second time was much more pleasant because I had my cable internet connection.
Beware the fury of a patient man
- John Dryden
Overseas are frustrated with SP2 obsession with registering.
Well, SP2 adoption is slow because piracy abounds in foreign land, especially in Asia. Windows updater checks the authenticity of the installed windows and refused to install SP2 (and other updates) if the check fails. For some reasons, critical updates can be downloaded from time to time, but not always. Coupled with lack of broadband internet and clueless users, I'm not surprised at all to hear this news.
--
Error 500: Internal sig error
I concur. Even months after SP2 was out, I installed it and it broke my system. Soon after, I reinstalled, then switched to linux... No more need for SP2 upgrade ^_^
"Women are just like ninjas; They lie even when it is more convenient to tell the truth." ~ Unknown
I recently had to re-install XP on a laptop that came with SP1. It took about 4 cycles of going to the Windows Update site, getting it to install the patches, and rebooting. It was over an hour before I was done. I have a hard time imagining regular users wanting to do this. MS needs to change their update process so that it can be done all at once.
Your design to a real part online: Big Blue Saw
All this comment says to me is that you don't know what you're talking about. Many of us use the same applications now that we did in SP1 without any appreciable difference.
If you're going to troll, at least find something valid to complain about.
BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.
But inside, there's a new batch of tasty exploits every week.
But they couldn't boot back into Windows afterwards, or they couldn't get back online. That's why they're not reporting SP2 users.
.....such as the 10 connection TCP limit. A pitiful bandaid to slow cousin Joe's infested zombie/spambot. Perhaps SP2 would be interesting if it included real fixes, or IE7 (or better yet, firefox ;-) ).
In Soviet Russia, Service Pack 2 uses YOU!
It's a perfect time for being wasted.
A perfect time to watch the stars.
- Burden Brothers, "Beautiful Night"
wow! MS get blame for everything here no matter what. damn if MS don't release patch/service pack and damn if MS did. no pleasing the Linux/OSS/slashdot tards here. We need more MS bashing!!!! F'ck MS insecure software 'cause we are so l33t we need no stinking patch/service pack. It's all MS falut that our systems got pawned. ....*insert typical slashdot comment here*...
There are over 40 critical updates that have come out since SP2... SP2 only goes so far in protection. I've used "broadband" in other countries... updating to SP2 plus all critical updates would take AGES. They'd be better off just disabling services in services.msc and using what they have now behind a hardware firewall.
I failed. I miserably found an algorithm able to quickly & easily factorize any large number. Damn I am so ashamed that I am gonna destroy all my work, and live as an hermit in one of those distant mountain. How the hell could someone found an intelligent use of such an algorithm ? Pffft.
I had a lovely working PC card that read all my digital camera memory cards... Worked like a charm with XP SP1. Installed SP2. Reader stopped working... Wouldn't recognize any memory card. Called SanDisk, the maker of the PC card.. They said they had reports of SP2 breaking the functionality of the card. It was a Microsoft problem. One of the tech guys at SanDisk told me that it is an unwritten rule to avoid all even numbers Microsoft Service Packs. Wish I knew that one before I installed it. The PC Card still doesn't work and so I hope it magically starts working with SP3... So I wouldn't doubt SP2 usage is low... That is what MS gets for breaking the way things work...
If you can install Linux (which I've tried about 20 times with no success.. something always is never found), installing SP2 is a breeze. I own 3 legal copies of windows xp (1 MCE 2k5), all of which are upgraded to SP2. Nothing broke, worked on the first try.
The only thing that took any time was the download.
It's because bandwidth is much more expensive in Europe than in the US. Simple explination.
I don't respond to AC's.
There are people still a year later who want to avoid it at all costs, so much so they have used to the HOSTS file to block Microsoft.com.
From the software pirates avoid "Microsoft Genuine Advantage" Windows piracy detection dept.
This guy is way out there
Once you install SP2, security updates are available to everyone through Automatic Updates (configure through the My Computer properties pane). However, the Windows Update website, which lets you install individual security patches, updated hardware drivers, and other software is only available if your computer passes the Windows Genuine Advantage check.
Hands in my pocket
Probably lack of bandwidth or Microsoft Windows update isn't intuitive enough.
People abroad don't have the same kind of connection of those in developed countries, and MS Windows XP SP2 is big.
Same people don't have the same amount of information from the press, about viruses, worms and other security menances. Because only a small percentage of the population have computers. So the people aren't aware of those menances and don't care about them.
DRM also sucks, just after I installed MS Windows XP I tried to update several times and everyone I was getting an incompreensive error that didn't informed me the cause of the problem.
I didn't know what to do so I tried to register to see if that was the cause. I registered MS Windows and it updated on the first try, but too late, in the meantime it already got viruses and had to reinstall it.
... which means that if P != NP, it is not NP-complete.
Hth,
Dscho
more bots for me!
Microsoft to distribute XP SP2 on one million CDs [July 9, 2004]
No charge, even for postage.
You would also have found SP2 bundled with your favorite computer magazine.
It refuses to install with exact same pirate keys that SP1 refuses to install.
If your key allows SP1, it allows SP2.
Yes, world is filled with idiots still spreading the ages-old 'Devils0wn' XP release from the beginning of time, which does not allow SP1 OR SP2 installation without changing the key.
However, changing the key takes all of 30 seconds, and tools (+list of 'valid' keys) can be found online in about 2 minutes of googling.
I spent six months in a third world country. There are two major reasons why XP SP2 wasn't in use there:
1. The license restrictions were tighter than plain XP,
2. It required over a day to download.
Heck, the guy who came over to install my DSL told me not to install it. Naturally, I didn't listen...
"provide a hardened shell around the operating system but the low upgrade levels remains a disappointment."
Damn user error! You have to do work to get a safe system!
"Scud Storm!" -- Jeremy of PurePwnage.com
Overseas, you mean, like, in the USA?
Don't they realise that this expression gives a very bad picture about their OS?
Like in "something wrapped around a rotten core to keep it working just a bit longer"?
There is a very very simple reason.
:) ) I quickly figured out when SP2 blows up and when it doesnt. 99.99% of installations will go just fine as long as the computer is first cleaned of all the spyware and viruses, and you make sure that drivers are at least in the ballpark of being up to date. Skip those steps, and there is a very real risk that you get to reinstall everything (or, at least, get to do a repair install with a CD that has SP2 slipstreamed into it).
I work at PC repairs. I see SP2less computers every day. MOST of them have legal copy of windows(!)
The reason why SP2 uptake is slow, is that when it was released, some people with virus/spyware-ridden computers just went and installed it - and their installation promptly blew up, since Microsoft for some odd reason didn't test their upgrade with every piece of malware out there.
So, the 'common wisdom' made rounds with lots and lots of clueless lusers; "Don't install SP2, it will just mess up your system and make you reinstall everything". Even *I* considered the upgrade hazardous during the first few weeks due to couple of blowups I'd seen.
Only thru trial and error (on customer's computers
Now if just one person tells 10 friends how his computer got all messed up due to SP2 (when it reality it was already mucked up by ten cubic miles of spyware), those ten will tell horror stories to 10 of their friends how they heard that SP2 is bad.
Boom, SP2 adoption rate takes a huge broadside hit.
I *still* need to reassure people who bring their computer in for repairs that installing SP2 is not only a good idea, but almost downright required if you plan on keeping your system connected to the internet. Standard operating procedure is to install all windows updates when fixing any problem, be it spyware, viruses or plain old hardware problem - yet I still sometimes get calls after the fact to the tune of 'how did you get SP2 installed? I thought it'd just mess up my computer so I was too afraid to try', while in fact there was zero reason why the user should've not installed it.
Now pirate copies are another story; Yes, I see those very commonly as well.
They fall into a couple of categories;
- Clueful people who know what they are doing (99% of these are computers with real hardware faults). They have SP2 and all updates installed, and windows update is working fine, with WGA circumvented. They are aware that MS 'pirate blocks' are not stopping anyone who knows how to use Google and can read.
In these cases there is no problem. Never was.
- Clueless idiots who "got my copy from a friend". Some have The Old Version with no SPs, and then whine how it never works right and always get viruses. Most have SP1, but havent' installed SP2 because they've "heard that it can't be installed" - when in reality it would work just fine. Most of these turn around and buy a genuine copy in case their system needs a full reinstall due to malware infestation so bad it can't be completely cleaned up within sane number of expensive techie hours.
For those I can't really go and install the SP2, as company policy says that any OS issues related to pirate copies are customers problem. Sure, I can clean up malware assuming it doesn't require a reinstall, and I can drop in any stuff the automatic update gives, but generally I don't even bother trying SP2.
Now, Microsoft's 'anti piracy measures' have definitely caused them to sell more legal copies to the clueless idiots who 'trusted their friend to install a free copy', and then got burned by the Windows Update and/or SP2 install key blacklists. However, as long as their system worked, they really don't care if its updated or not. I've seen systems where the damn computer contained all the financial stuff of a small company, NO BACKUPS, with system full of viruses and other crap to the point when it no longer boots - and the owner didn't care it hadn't been updated. He was just pissed that the computer stopped working, and was
It's still not recommended or supported as an upgrade in house though it is now released and supported on initial build.
Most Windows users I have seen, especially overseas, tend to wipe and re-install from the latest and greatest pirate slipstream whenever their installation gets foobar'd.
I recently helped someone with an install, one of these pirate CDs. She even had a regular license for XP, but decided to go with the pirate disk.
Why?
Because it had SP2 slipstreamed in, a variety of other updates, product activation disabled, WinRar included, Acrobat reader included, Sun's Java included, Firefox, and Macromedia Flash included.
I was impressed. It was almost as functional as a Linux install. No Office suite, or any of the other stuff that comes with Linux, but still, much, much better than a standard Windows install, far less updating to do, and only took about an hour.
It's not as easy as a Linux install; but its way better than the normal install cycle.
WhiteWolf666 an exBush supporter. All you new-school,compassionate,save the children Republicans can rot in hell
I reinstall myself, so I get a new hard drive, do Dell's recommendations and update EVERYTHING, so BIOS, etc etc (well over a dozen downloads), Windows Install, Update, MSOffice updates (god how come so many), applications galore. It only took me 22 hours.
Balmer just screams "Get me a new box that works NOW or I rip your guts out and then you are fired."
I don't believe Gates and Balmer maintain their own hardware & OS, and have no clue the amount of time is involved on the Wintel side.
Bo
Which overseas? Japan? US? Australia?
I have read a good number of the posts on this topic and no one has nailed the real problem.
The problem is that Microsoft released a HALF BAKED product!!! Now, they keep scratching their heads wondering why people aren't installing the new and improved "Half Baked" Service Pack. The only solution I can see is a class action Law Suite against Microsoft for releasing such a defective product!!! Maybe then, their next release will be done properly!!
Mod me down as troll if you like but I have only stated the truth about Microsofts product.
Well, for one, i live in Singapore (no, it's not in China!) and is guilty of being SP2less. But it's not because of ignorance or complacency in my case. I have downloaded it before, and have installed it. Now all is good, until i rebooted. No, not really. I guess i should say, "until i tried to reboot". The damn thing just wouldnt boot. I tried everything from jumper reset to good old babaric bashing. Then i did a check online and i found my asnwer -- SP2 was incompatible with several MotherBoards. Now that's fcuked. What kinda beta testing/ QA did Microsoft carry out. It wasn't just one brand of motherboard but almost every HT-enabled motherboard (If my memory did not fail me, yes that was the cause). So after a painfully boring reinstallation, i grabbed the latest BIOs which was said to fix the problem. So i did a BIOs flash and shit happened, again. The flashing failed and killed the motherboard. I had to do a RMA for the motherboard which wasn't a fast thing. Now, i pretty much don't give a shit about SP2 anymore. Honestly, a dead motherboard or the possibility of being infected, which would you choose? P.S. i have yet got infected by any worms or spyware without SP2.
Seriously my computer seems to work fine on just sp1, why go through the hassle of upgrading when there is no obvious benefit. I reckon this is the thinking of a lot of people. Plus having tried computers with sp2, the sheer amount of notification bubbles it uses would drive me insane!
Did you get that thing I sent ya?
If you look at Microsoft's scorecard for service packs, sure, you can find even-numbered ones that locked systems solid. You can find odd-numbered ones that did that, too. The only method I can suggest for safely installing a service pack is to wait until someone publishes a regression test on that SP on the machine you use with the hardware you have. The next-best is to find a combination of tests which cover the arrangement, but that's not as good, as interactions between components can be critical.
The third option is to make extensive backups, then try installing the service pack. If it doesn't work, restore from backup. The problem with this is that there are rare bugs that cause actual hardware damage. I only recall reports of such damage for one Windows service pack, but I am definitely unhappy about the fact that there are any such reports at all. It is for that reason I relegate this to being a third option, because (IMHO) it is preferable to let someone else fry their computer - doubly so as Microsoft won't take responsibility and manufacturer warranties are usually voided if you change the system at all (such as installing service packs).
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
Perhaps in that case it is a security slum-it. I know, I amaze even myself.
"Strangers have the best candy" -Me
I think ms is upset NOT solely over the licensing and piracy and malware issues surrounding the lack up uptake/upgrading.
What about TurboLinux? What about Mandriva, RH, Novell Suse? Hell, with all the rigmarole and trepidation around arduous upgrading or being caught wihth illegit copies, there must (I think) be some more silent uptake up Linux (GNU/Linux, if you prefer).
For ms, this can't be GOOD.
Consider that in China alone, some 176,000 computers (See Linux Format, current or one of the previous 3 issues...) in just ONE city are being deployed to schools, and Red Flag or SOME other distro of Linux will go on them. Moreover, since IBM AND Dell lost out in the bidding to supply (read: SELL) hardware, that's less hard-coding of authentic product IDs to track or claim for Wall Street/Nikkei/HangSeng (sp?).
Now, couple that with the Italian and French cities (and all the others... pick your nation--and SMILE), ms has got to be worried. LTSP, virtualization/Virtual Machine, VMWare, Win4Lin, WINE, CodeWeavers and others must be causing nightmares for ballmer and his chair-throwing supporters.
Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
Selecting "update" and then "restart" 4 times is a lot of trouble?
Especially because if they could have done 1 step each week over 4 weeks and still have been upgraded by now.
I think the comments about the piracy checks preventing them are more on-track.
http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/8/20/95
Between the hardware requirements and lack of compelling features, I think Microsoft is gonna find an even slower adoption rate of Vista overseas when it finally launches.
There is no gravity...the earth just sucks.
I don't know, maybe he's not trolling. Not only do I not like SP2 for the reasons I'll get into below, I still run Win2K SP4 on most of the PCs on this lan. The one exception is a R40 which came with XP and I haven't had the time to upgrade to win2k, as all it does is delete spam and I don't really work with it that much. All I've done is reset it to the Classic interface but you can still smell the XP Inside.
In August another machine with a factory XP install which had gotten SP2 died mysteriously overnight after accepting yet another automatic Windows update. A random windows corruption happens, but doubt was thrown when one of the WIn2k machines lost windows the next week so I turned off all automated updating from Microsoft. I didn't like them auto-rebooting anyway.
Both these machines' drives scanned clean in postmortem, they run behind a hardware firewall, and we also run zonealarm and F-Prot AV. They all have IE but it's rarely used and it's encased in the popupcop wrapper anyway. All software is paid for, the products are all together in case of a BSA visit. I'm done with updating, these things run beautifully as long as MS doesn't fuck with them. Frankly, Windows Genuine Advantage and Microsoft XP Product Activation gives me the willies. WTF do they harass paying customers while the pirates get away with their custom disks w/ no activation. XP SP2 sucks, beyond the gross Fisher-Price interface, there are certain problems, expecially pertaining to deleting files from flash cards that XP suffers from, that make it unusable in my business.
While we are on the subject, would someone be so kind as to post the SP2 direct download link that works on non-explorer browers. I don't have a windows machine at home, but am preparing my windows clean-up disk in preparation for holiday travels, and my google skills are apparently lacking tonight.
thanks
Doesn't SP2 comes with a new EULA for Windows? Maybe there are people who read it, disagreed, and clicked the cancel button. Surely there are people who do not agree with Microsoft changing licensing terms after the fact.
Slashdot: Failed Car Analogies. Amateur Lawyering. Anecdote Battles.
A complete reinstall fixed that, but now file sharing is broken and we've spent days applying bizarre SP2 KB patches to no avail.
So my suggestion to the world: don't. Just don't !
Not true. Some keys that allow SP1 don't work in SP2
More than a year huh? AFAIK, SP2 was released in Feb 2005.
Oh well, what the hell...
Unlike North America (and Western Europe), many websites in East Asia use grizzillions of ActiveX controls and popups, ranging from simple news sites to banking to online games. You know, one of the main benefits of XP SP2 is blocking those "unwanted" popups and ActiveX sh*ts, but that is detrimental to those crappy nonstandard website runners - so often they provide some "get-around" for users with XP SP2, or even encourage them NOT to install SP2, contrary to M$'s recommendation. Piracy and low bandwidth shouldn't be the major reasons, because there are already tons of update-eligible serial numbers (even I am holding at least 5 of them, for just a testing purpose) and they are quite well equipped with high-speed broadband internet (particularly in S. Korea and urban China, as well as HK & Singapore). Well, I've heard that MS plans to stop supporting ActiveX from IE7 - those nobrainer websites may need to do something to survive. Personally, I don't feel sorry at all for the demise of these crappy websites.
Exactly what does XP SP2 come with that I don't already have? My LAN has a mix of windows versions from Win 95 thru Win 2003. None of them have anti-virus software installed, and for all the versions that have an "Automatic Updates" service, I have switched that service OFF to prevent automatic downloading of unnecessary patches. If it weren't for Ziff Davis and Slashdot, I would not even know that Windows computers could get viruses.
In response to the perceived aggression from a U.S. company the nations of Japan, India, China, South Korea, Malaysia and New Jersey called their ambassadors home from their respective embassies in Washington, D.C. New Jersey Governor Richard Codey, having been alerted by his aides to the fact that New Jersey is part of the United States, further chose to close his Washington embassy, calling the move "yet another cost-cutting victory for the taxpayers of the Garden State."
At 9:15 PM East Coast U.S. Time Friday, Japanese Ambassador to the United States Ryozo Kato issued the following statement: "Itte mairimasu." U.S. State Department officials declined to translate or comment on Ambassador Kato's statement, mainly because nobody could be found who was fluent in Japanese.
Piracy aside, I see three main reasons why Service Pack 2 is slow to be adopted.
1. It's huge. About 260 megs, I think. Try that one on analog (33.6kbps or less) dialup sometime. Better yet, try it in Internet Explorer which has no support for resuming interrupted downloads. Even more, try it in Internet Explorer which has no support for resuming interrupted downloads on an analog modem running on a telephone line for which you need to pay for the telephone service by the minute and the internet access by the hour. Yeah, just try it. I dare you. Here's another good one: Try downloading it when you don't even HAVE internet access!
2. It breaks stuff. A lot of older applications just stop working as soon as you install Service Pack 2. If somebody relies upon such an older piece of software for their business' billing or their hospital's patient tracking system, they aren't upgrading, nuh-uh.
3. FUD. One person with some obscure app that gets broken when he installs SP2 tells all of his friends that SP2 is evil. They in turn tell more people, and so forth.
There's no real way around any of these three reasons, although the second and third reasons are related and if you could somehow fix the second one, the damage of the third could be lessened. But overall, the damage has already been done and the FUD demon is out of his cage.
Reinvent the wheel only at either a lower cost, greater effectiveness, or your own personal enrichment and satisfaction.
... Microsoft gets over their stupid anti-piracy tactics in regards to service packs. Ever since XP1 Ms has made it more time consuming and really not worth it for anyone who's pirated XP to upgrade to XP2. Ever since "genuine advantage" and the other bs that tries to check to see if your windows is "authentic".
Okay. Well, all keys *I* know of that allow SP1, allow SP2 :)
distribute the SP2 CD to every electronics store overseas and people will use it...
...but it's why I'm still on SP1 myself. Everything I have on my machine (including some graphics-intensive Win95/98 era stuff) runs beautifully. Many, many of the things I use often (like the old UnrealEd for Unreal1, UT99, and Deus Ex) refuse to work on any of the computers my friends have. On the other hand, Freespace always seems to work, but admittedly, that's due to a weird thing with the way-too-damn-many fonts installed on my machine. Also, doesn't SP2 refuse to allow more than 10 outgoing connection attempts at a time? I know Azureus mentions such in the settings.
Also, more seriously, XP SP2 broke the ability of my parents' virus scanner to keep an active monitor running. Which in turn quickly led to the near-total destruction of the computer before I came home for the holidays last year and fixed it (it arose again like a Phoenix, though key things in Windows are still missing . . . nothing important, actually, mainly stuff that was annoying and unable to be removed with any ease before, so in a way that's kindof a plus!)
Alot more stuff is broken, I just don't recall quite what. Hmm, maybe a quick google search will clarify:
Microsoft's own list of broken apps
Also,
SP2 removes the ability of users to send raw TCP segments
It also breaks Captive-NTFS
It can break the Group Policy Object Editor
And as mentioned above, it limits TCP to 10 outgoing attempts (link also includes methods of disabling this; more detailed information on the issue can be found here.
Here's a forum in which people describe a few of the more technical problems and their solutions for SP2
I could go on, but you get the idea. There are some serious drawbacks to SP2. I could go on about how the supposed security features don't exactly impress me (and honestly, all the third-party security programs on my computer have never had to do much, since I run it very securely anyways, and they could handle it even if I didn't), but again, you can probably elaborate on your own.
My point, really, is just that parent is being truthful! Hell, it doesn't even matter if you argue that SP2 doesn't break anything worth fretting about, the perception, with enough evidence to hold sway, still exists, so it's still a huge reason for lack of adoption. Maybe parent is flamebait as well, but sometimes truth == flamebait!
I remember sigs. Oh, a simpler time!
That's a bunch of fckgw.
Compared to Win2000, XP has ONE advantage, it allows multiple access to the soundcard. And with SP2, it blocks those dammned popups, another good thing (if you are using IE instead of opera).
On the downside, XP forces me to have the ms-IM "messenger" installed. I hate it! MS forces this soft on every SP2 user. You wont be able to uninstall (try it!). And the sucker starts whenever OE is started !
Doesent this remind you spyware tactics ?
The other bad thing is SP2 will try to secure some unnecessary services with an unecessary firewall. Two times bad is good ? (yes, its good for intel and amd, since you will need 1ghz more cpu-power for this BS)
Third, it takes an awful lot of time to install SP2. Not the installation itself, this is smooth, but to correct all the BS done to the system will keep me busy for 2 hours.
Why am i running XP ?
I have only one licence for win2k, but two for xp. That is the reason. But next time i have to reinstall xp, it will be without SP2, for shure.
btw, an XP installation lives 3 to 5 months here. Then it gets so slow i have to reinstall. And its NOT spy-mal-etc-ware to slow it down.
Vista ? FORGET it! not here.
MS is on the way for world domination. I bet vista is full of drm-messenger-etc crap.
I've got no idea if it will be fixed in IE7.
the only reason why I have SP1 loaded is because my USB drivers require it.
my XP box is strictly a DAW (audio workstation). SP1 adds some latency issues that I can work around/live with but I would prefer not to...
the history of the world
I guess if M$ didn't dumb everything down for customers, those same customers might actually associate the SP2 recommendations with a threat. Oops, forgot that people who aren't responsible for their computers don't move, huh?
Microsoft has always had both problems.
People only upgrade when the benefits outweigh the cost. They don't trust Microsoft. They've been lied to again and again and it hurts them.
Security has always been a joke to Microsoft and people are tired of getting sucked in to an upgrade treadmill.
Corporations HATE change. CMicrosoft keeps hange hits them in the pocketbook. My client was using NT 4.x until it got EOLed by Microsoft. They switched to Win2K, not XP, but Win2K, because the bugs had been kicked out of it.
They don't want or need all the gimracks and geegaws. They want an OS to just do what its told, just like they want employees to just do as they're told.
Microsoft can stand on its head and spit nickels and it won't salve the wounds of their users (IE is a disaster, VB is a shame, and the whole OS is ramshackle,) or make it cheaper to run.
What? You think that corporations LIKE paying millions for a series of security risks? One after another?
Its a wonder you get any upgraders at all.
MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
But hey, any opportunity for a Linux fanboy speech...
Any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.
I work at a University computer repair shop and I see a lot of people without SP2. It's required to have SP2 and a virus scanner to be on the local network. So a reason why most students dont have it is because windows update is broken (spyware) or they just didnt bother to update. Sometimes it's due to an illegal cd key.
Why crib now?
Why does yahoo do this
I live in the Netherlands now (high cost of living) after living in Munich for 3 years (high cost of living) and I can assure you the price for DSL and cable here in Europe is less than or equal to the US, although the poster from France gets more for his/her money. Are you pulling these facts out of your backside? Where do you get your information?
You release a patch that removes product activation and I'll consider it.
If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
I don't need it - from someone who does know what they are talking about.
If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
The dorks, they invest years in becoming confident and comfortable using a set of applications that work for them, and the bloddy cheapstakes can't be bothered to throw all that knowledge down the toilet for some new shinning, bloated, application that does basically the same. The idiots.
No doubt they all should be beaten into their senses.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
http://malfeasance.50megs.com/
Why is this -1 Flamebait? My WinXP laptop isn't patched past SP1 and it doesn't matter. Why? because the only programs that I allow to talk to the internet are up to date and Microsoft don't make them so there is no need to patch what is never going to be attacked.
One tip though, don't use the Windows firewall if your going to do this as it lets all MS software through by default. Sygate is good, despite the fact that Symantec have bought it and discontinued the product you can still get it by searching for spf.exe on fileindex.net or similar.
Balmer needs to learn one thing:
SP2 has more disadvantages then advantages:
- The build in firewall is so easy to get passed that its a joke
- Loads of software doesn't work anymore if you use it
- It makes your computer lag
- Loading windows goes even more slow
So my advice: shoot the frikin SP2 to the sun and hope it melts when comming close to it so it can't damage the sun.
Do you mean that, except for yours, every country is undeveloped?
The amount of information is not the problem. The type of information is.
Most non-technical people don't understand most of the stuff about virusses, troyans, spyware, etc.
It is not the problem that they don't care, it is just that they don't know.
Experienced it first hand: friends did not see spyware as a bad thing until I told them what spyware actually does.
No wonder that nobody update to SP2.
First you have to downoad "Genuine Advantage Tool" (spy tool?).
Then it have to verify that you have a legit copy of XP. If you dont, then you cant get SP2.
In Soviet Russia, SP2 adopts YOU!
Mod me down with all of your hatred, and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
Same issue happened to me when I tried upgrading around the time it was released.
Am I sure that my motherboard's latest bios updates wont cause this to happen again. No. There is no SP2 benefit that makea up for this uncertainty.
search google for xpsp1.zip; contains xp key changer and key viewer.
To be honest, I do not care much about which operating system is run on my computer. I just has to work and I take what is best. I have no time for a WinXP or Linux cult. Currently I chose KDE on Linux and on rare occasions I switch to Windows.
Yeah, make an enormous update package for download with a 56k, make it mandatory, make it hard to apply (to name just something, translation is horrible and the first version of spanish SP2 hung in over half the computers I tried it) and don't give any support overseas. A Microsoft recipie for success. I wonder why nobody is using it!
"I see undead people" Warcraft III - Necromancer
I wonder how this ties back to the chinese hacking article that was up a day or 2 ago. Does the lack of uptake of SP2 in other countries, particularly ones like china who are known for their piracy, soften them to US cyber retaliation?
I do security
THANK YOU. This is exactly how I feel about the whole situation as well. You've summed it up very nicely. I absolutely adore Win2k, at least as much I can adore a Windows product. For me its the closest thing that anything has ever come to perfect windows (contradiction in terms jokes ad nausem). It provides the same functionality as Windows XP, and I can run it on very old machines with very reasonable performance. I have an old Sony Viao with a 233mhz Pentium (yes no II, III, just a regular Pentium), and 128mb of RAM. Win2k runs great, and just about as well as my XP Desktop at work (3.0 ghz, AMD, bla bla). Of course certain applications like playing movies and so on it can't do. But this is not an OS limitation.
XP on the other hand is clearly bloatware. The memory specifications practically quadrippled, and there are still HUGE moments when it just sits there thinking, and of course there is the well know XP Slow down. Over time it just seems to get worse. We're back to Windows 3.1 when we had to reinstall every six months.
What nerve of those people to actually read the EULA's that come with windows systems. Especially the disclaimers to all warrantees of merchantability and fitness. The militaries of those countries read the parts about the software not fit for military use now. At one time they did not. That is how Sadaam lost his air defense systems when we activeated some of the hidden viruses that windows installs in its systems.
One has little enough control over XP systems anyway. You may have bought it with your money, but you are not the 'superuser' like on linux systems; micro$$$ is. The installation of SP2, a 140MB monster often surrepetitiousely downloaded into many unsuspecting users machines if they have not turned off the services that allow it, takes away what little control one has left and leaves in its place a latent pay per view box.
If I found that SP2 was ever on a machine in my control, I would low level reformat the hard drive.
Let's see, what other examples are there? Incorrect BIOS writes, as another poster noted, are Bad News, but they are technically recoverable. Well, usually, anyway. If there is nothing to reset the BIOS to, it can be much more troublesome. Hard disk thrashing is a bigger problem, as that can cause an actual head crash.
(So that non-geeks can get some idea of why head crashes are BAD, your typical hard drive has a diameter of 3.8" - and therefore a cicumference of about 12". It revolves 7200 times a minute, which means the outside of the disk is travelling at a speed of 1432.6" per second. Now, imagine an extremely delicate read-head striking that disk. Now picture that scene from Star Trek:TNG where the saucer section from the Enterprise makes an emergency crash landing. That is what your hard drive now looks like.)
Other ways software can cause hardware damage: Loading microcode into the CPU that does the same as CPUburn, only a great deal more savagely. Try googling for Service Pack 6 and you'll find machines that could not be rebooted. At all. They were utterly dead. Buggy drivers on buggy hardware aren't a good combination. If you've an old BBC Micro handy, try the following instruction:
10 DIM a%(1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1)
The Commodore PET allowed you to alter video timings, but was never designed for such modifications. It was therefore possible to cause permanent damage to the display.
These are only a few examples, but computer history is littered with them. The Manchester Mk 1 had far more opcodes than instructions, with unused opcodes running through utterly unpredictable paths in hardware. I think it used 32-bit addresses, but it only had 32 words of memory. Again, going outside of physical memory was unpredictable. You programmed that machine with EXTREME care.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)