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Why is Microsoft Patching XP?
akkarin noted a story about a new Service patch for XP. Dubbed SP2c, the new service patch contains no bug fixes or features. Instead, this exciting patch exists only to add new valid active product registration keys. Oops.
Without a service pack it just doesn't feel like windows.
Because it's not XP without patches!
Why is this labeled a service patch?
the title was,
/must/ have Windows and /must/ have a supported OS."
"... If they stop patching/supporting XP, they might get more Vista sales, from those who
Surely everyone is buying Vista now so they won't need any more keys, right?
The old believe everything, the middle-aged suspect everything, the young know everything. - Oscar Wilde
I find it more interesting that when they were planning XP they knew how many keys they would need before they released it.
If things had gone according to plan, this would not be required and we would not have heard about it.
I am dubious that this is the real reason.
liqbase
I think 2007 is the beginning of the end for microsoft. First there is the flopped release of Vista, XP continues to be in demand, SCO gets the book thrown at them...
Turning points are not usually on display while they are happening, this may be a rare exception.
http://secondhandcar.com/
... and they're kinda nervous about their service release record being broken...
The game.
So if hackers figure out how to patch in some new "valid" keys with this mechanism, does that mean that no one will need to hack out a key anymore?
stuff |
What happened to A and B?
Did they elope together and disappear into the mountains - and now C is their lovechild?
I was hoping they would release another service pack to roll up the 70 or so patches that have come out since SP2"a" -- oops -- wait -- guess that didn't happen yet either!
I wonder how hard it will be to uninstall when it does not work.
If at first you don't succeed, call it version 1.0.
FTA: Other signs of the not-dead-yet OS's...
I'm not dead yet.
Aw, you'll be stone dead in a moment.
No, really, I'm feeling much better.
Have you read the moderator guidelines? Well, have you, PUNK? (and I want a Karma: Gnarly option)
I've never actually used Vista, but whenever I have to use Windows XP at work it always feels so antiquated compared to Mac OS X. Everything on Mac is so much cleaner, nicer and more sophisticated.
Patch released to windows 98 a long time ago introduced many of the "problems" and "instablity" in windows 98 such as freezing when you delete files and random blue screens. If you back to older dll versions of some files these problems magically disappear.
I wonder if this is the XP nerf patch.
That the balance of features versus benefits in Vista are not correct. Meaning, in Vista they were too interested in providing features that consumers did not care about, such as drm and copyright protection, and not enough benefits above XP. Not only that, but the XP version is even cheaper...
I suspect this is a shorterm problem only. Meaning I checked the Dell website and they are not providing XP as an option on all laptops, so I suspect M$ is simply providing this option to their larger customers until wider adoption occurs. Over time, it would be my guess they will slowly "fade" out XP and the forced Vista adoption will be complete. Longterm this will be seen as a major mistake made by them, in my opinion....
After exhausting those serial numbers they should try using the remaining permutations!
Free Windows for everyone!
Slashdot needs Geekcode | Can anyone recommend any good SCIFI? My tastes: Foundation, Startide Rising, CITY, Ringworld,
... how the XP product keys got exhausted. I was initially running off Win2K and after I built my new PC (Core 2, 4Gb RAM, SATA RAID etc.) I bought Vista at the local CompUSA which had sweet store closure deals. I was horrified at how bad Vista was when I installed and used it on my new PC - Damn those slow file copy operations, slow networking and periodic hangs - it never felt like a new machine any time.
I gave up and bought WinXP Pro and it literally flies on this machine. I don't care who's fault it is - half baked drivers, incompatible software etc. I want a OS which works and Vista is not it.
I just love it when the subject line of a article is a question answered by the summary just below it.
MS is running out of keys, so they are releasing an updated build. mmmmm ok. so?
It's just a different build number, what's the big deal. The same thing happened back in the Windows 95 when they had SR 2, 2.1, and 2.5. The changes between those build were minor as well.
Way to spin it, Slashdot. Making the "mistake" of underestimating how well a product is going to sell: not a bad mistake to make.
I'd like it if they rolled up all of the 80-90 critical patches since SP2.
This means this next few weeks is lots of free money as all the XP copies start breaking. I get to charge $95.00 an hour to go and investigate a persons computer, see an illigitimate copy, sell them a copy of XP (OEM of course with a piece of hardware to make it legit) at a fair price. I install the new legitimage COA sticker, change the Key by using keychanger, reboot and all is happy. Easy $95.00 profit for 1/2 hour work (we have a minimum 1 hour charge)
Thanks microsoft for making us little guys rich. Last time they did this I was undercutting the "geek squad" guys by $250.00 a pc in total cost and did not lose all the customers data like the Geek squad guys do by performing a reinstall. It seems that most of those guys do not understand any of the tools or proper techniques to deal with such issues.
I'm getting a new 42" plasma Tv this week! WOOOOOO! all thanks to microsoft. THANKS!
OSR2 - FAT32 is minor?
OSR2.1 - LBA support is minor?
OSR2.5 - USB is minor?
We've been waiting for XP SP3 for a long time now (artificially delayed past Vista). Now it looks like Vista SP1 is going to come out before XP SP3 even.
Microsoft should stand behind their products and think more of long-term goals (customer satisfaction, etc.) than short-term marketing.
Everybody's stupid today (I know I am). This guy says someone may have to "administrate" it (damned stupid yuppies, it's administer not "administrate") and you don't know that "love child" is a euphamism for "bastard". If A and B eloped they're married and the baby isn't a "love child".
It's only for OEMS and stuff- it's for new OS installs, not for ones that are already there. In fact its' pointless on systems that already are installed because they already have working keys.
ADVENTURERS! - ANTIHERO FOR HIRE - CARDMASTER CONFLICT
2b or not 2b, that is the question.
Sssssssh! They might hear you!
I think it is just a matter of how many Windows Updates are included.
Windows XP Professional w/ SP1A (OEM-DSP)Only (?) release of SP1.
Microsoft Windows XP Pro w\SP2 (OEM-DSP) First release of SP2
Microsoft Windows XP Pro SP2B OEM DSP 2nd release of SP2
A new Linux patch came out today that added two new features and addressed seven minor bugs. Users from Tokyo to London have been taking to the streets in protest.
"How dare they release a product that was buggy and only just now patch it!" screamed one user in Moscow this morning.
"That's just like the Linux community, releasing a product before it's ready and patching it later." said Theresa Johnson, a mother of two from Long Island.
When word got out that Linux version 3 was coming in the future, a number of people were taken aback.
"Maybe they'll get it right this time." said Randy McNeil, a 15-year old self-proclaimed mathematician, physicist, programmer, and lawyer.
When after five seconds of being released only two people had downloaded the new patch, computer business analyst Ralph Ivanson said that it just proved that the new version of Linux was too bulky and slow for mass adoption. "Maybe when the Linux developers start forcing people into it, then we'll see some conversion to the new kernel", said Ivanson, who lamented that instead of forcing user to upgrade to the latest patch that the v0.1 patch should have supported PCI-Express from the beginning. "They just weren't forward thinking back then and now it's isolating users." said Ivanson as he pounded on his desk.
Prices of copies of the Debian Operating System on bootleg CD-R fell to half a bag of weed and an old sandal, down from a bag and a jacket with holes in it in early afternoon trading.
There are 2 red flags on this that would concern me. One that Microsoft would secretly bundle more rights restrictions into XP (admit it, it's certainly tempting, and it's not like they haven't done it before), and two, that this SP would seemingly make it easier to crack windows keys - I mean, here's all the necessary components, isolated and laid out for you to decipher. Well, that's just my 2 cents.
Starbucks, Harbuckle of Breath.
so... does this mean that the next time I need to call MS up for a new install key, I'll get one that requires SP2c to activate, which I can't get, because I need an activated XP to use windows update?
Personally, I've never switched away from Windows because either it came with whatever machine I was using, or I had peripherals that Linux couldn't handle, or whatever. But I finally did it this weekend, I had a desktop sitting there doing nothing so I slapped Edubuntu 6.06 LTS (the CD I had handy) on it, and pretty much have it doing what I want. Not bad for this used-to-be-Windows system administrator.
:-)
Basically, while it has been convenient not to have to do much administering, I just felt more and more that Windows is headed in the wrong direction and it was time to switch trains for one headed where I want to go.
Sorry if this is mildly off topic. I just felt like telling you all.
Space game using normal deck of cards: http://BattleCards.org
Microsoft hasn't done it, but these guys have.
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
We all know what the term "Microsoft Tax" means, so I won't go into detail about it.
So consider this: with every Microsoft Taxed machine that is sold with Vista as the only option, Microsoft is (according to Microsoft projections from the article) expecting an almost 80% chance that they will also sell a license for Windows XP. They win TWICE! Not only do they get to tax the machine, they also get to sell a second OS license.
This is what happened, more or less, with WindowsME. Everyone hated it and went back to Win98se... most people didn't PAY for it but they went to it just the same. In this case, there is more incentive to pay for it... it's a win-win-win for Microsoft.
Cause it's BSD and it's FREE!!!!1!11!1
Obama likes poor people so much, he wants to make more of them.
The service pack itself is trivial. The news here is not a new service pack. The news is that XP is so popular in the enterprise Microsoft has to add additional product keys. This is to be expected though because Vista has not gained widespread acceptance in business. Ok, I guess this isn't news.
Nothing to see here. Move along.
Once you install SP2c, you'll be unpleasantly surprised to find Vista is now your operating system!
A hardware product has an official End-Of-Life date beyond which it is no longer sold nor supported. That's fairly logical, because it is a standalone physical item, and its physical end of life is inescapable.
But the concept of EOL'ing an operating system that's at the heart of bazillion old machines out there seems completely wrong, to the point of being bizarre. Those machines will (mostly) never change their operating system, and why should they --- after all, their manufacturer created them as XP machines, not as Vista boxes, and their manufacturer-supplied drivers might not even work with Vista.
Yet, except in the case of non-networked machines, their continued survival requires fairly regular O/S updates in response to the changing face of the Internet. End-Of-Lifing XP reflects a very myopic stance by Microsoft, as if their product Windows XP were somehow standalone. Well it's not.
Microsoft enjoys the $$$ benefits of Windows being adopted worldwide as the most popular operating system, but with that comes the responsibility of maintaining the heart of those myriad machines which use it
Yes, it's a responsibility. Operating systems are not toasters. They sustain the continued viability of machinery that uses them, and can't be treated as independent items. Their manufacturers committed to a dependency on Microsoft support.
While End-Of-Life is a common concept in commercial products, there is something fundamentally wrong with declaring an operating system as dead. While the hardware survives (at least 10 years, maybe 15), a degree of support should continue to be provided, as I see it. The rate of support calls will dwindle to zero over time, so "It would cost us too much" is not really a good excuse. Especially given the size of MS coffers.
Killing off older machines by denying support for their O/S seems irresponsible by the O/S manufacturer, regardless of which O/S that is.
"The question of whether machines can think is no more interesting than [] whether submarines can swim" - Dijkstra
Activate XP more than 5 times and you need to buy a new copy. Microsoft didn't seem to think you would need to keep it last long.
So, from what I gather from the article, this adds additional product keys into XP so they can sell more licenses.
Does this mean it's technically possible to create a build of XP, perhaps by a similar process as slipstreaming a service pack, that contains all product activation keys, so as to be able to be installed on as many systems as possible?
Speaking from an independent computer tech standpoint, many times an XP rebuild onsite is necessary but the CDs aren't handy. If I had an XP CD that allowed all of the codes possible to work on it, I could use the license printed on the side of the computer.
Does this already exist? Am I behind the curve?
XP is fine now (when they're not breaking it remotely), Vista was delayed and Vista sucks. If Vista didn't suck then I wouldn't still be reading horror stories about DRM, HD-crippling, driver issues, kernel vulnerabilities etc. etc. etc. long after it has been released. Barely a week goes by without a handful of things like this or this cropping up.
Are all of these kinds of stories just trolls with spin skills worthy of Karl Rove? If the answer is no then Vista sucks. If the answer is yes then there are lot of people angry at MS - probably, at least in part, because Vista sucks so very much: http://slashdot.org/search.pl?query=vista
I've been part of several discussions trying to ascertain what advantages Vista actually offers to outweigh the drawbacks and it ain't pretty. The bottom line for us, and I daresay hundreds of thousands of other organisations, is that XP works, is mostly stable and is well supported. Vista can't compete with that - and they're calling it an upgrade?
So if you need Microsoft - and unfortunately we still need to develop with DirectX - then XP will do fine. Vista has to bring something really worthwhile to make us want to go through the hassle of the upgrade and to put up with all the unwanted baggage that Redmond seems to think we all need.
And of course if you don't need Microsoft then you're already laughing. Whatever OS you're using will be just as secure as Vista (if not more so), fully extensible, support all sorts of open formats and not try to wrestle with you for control of your own computer.
I really am glad that Vista's working out for you but unfortunately for most of us the "nifty new features and new look" just aren't enough to justify a broad OS upgrade - certainly for anything other than a home or hobby rig. And my home'n'hobby rigs all run XP or Linux and serve me just fine. =D
Dubbed SP2c, the new service patch contains no bug fixes or features
How is this different from their other service patches?
Just thought I'd add a bit of sanity here for the 1 or 2 people that think before posting. Microsoft has already released service pack 2 a and b to OEM's and OEM's (and their new customers) are the only people getting this version. End users aren't going to be getting this as from windows update it simply adds more license keys, OK? That said Microsoft HAS confirmed Service Pack 3 for XP which will be the roll-up of all security issues thus far and a few more. See here: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/lifecycle/service packs.mspx
Where it states: SP3 for Windows XP Professional is currently planned for 1H CY2008. This date is preliminary.
Don't you already have to have a genuine Windows in order to download updates? If this is true, then surely this is completely pointless for stopping people with versions of XP with cracked keys. =P
-- There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, And those who don't.
That's what I was thinking,no patches, no fixes for broken stuff, no fixing it so XP will play DX10 - and so what is XP missing that Vista has? Extra DRM 'enhancements' to take control of your computer away from you. Don't think I'll be putting this thing on my computer.
Enjoy your Karma, after all you earned it. Feel your Karma Joe, feel it burn.
Meh, big deal, I'll be using Windows 2000 for a long time.
Shouldn't they have just wrapped it up with the 100 or so available updates on windows update after a fresh install of SP2 and called it SP3??? I've always wondered why install media manufactured after a patch or update was released for any software product was not included in the new batches of CDs
Yeah Right. Microsoft has sold so many copies of XP that they've run out of CD Keys which takes some doing when you consider how many they could generate. And the Linux Zealots still think that Linux will prevail over Windows. I don't think that'll be any time soon. XP has still got a couple of years where you'll be able to buy it. They may need to issue another patch.
To the Linux Zealots, a simple suggestion:
If You want to learn how to do an OS and make it popular, look at XP.
Conor "You're not married,you haven't got a girlfriend and you've never seen Star Trek? Good Lord!" - Patrick Stewart
Impacts Security - Who cares, wait til there's at least 5 exploits before reviewing it.
Who is general failure, and why is he reading my hard drive?
Microsoft shot themselves in the foot when they released Vista. Another bullet for making DX10 Vista only for no reason. Another for asking companies to make DX10 games come out first and then a DX9c game months later. Another for requiring validation to download patches, and another for not making it a fool proof system.
I swear to God, its a horrible joke at this point. Almost like when you hear trailer trash bitching about how their lives are so bad, when most of the time it was caused by a ten year long string of horrible decisions on their parts.
Job? I don't have time to get a job! Who will sit around and bitch about being broke and unemployed then?
Also, not even the most die-hard MS apologists I see advocate UPGRADING to Vista. They're simply saying that it's not bad. It's definitely not worth an upgrade, but if you're going to get a new machine, why avoid it? This is, of course, a different thing for businesses, since they can't just upgrade one machine at a time. Businesses probably won't be upgrading for a small eternity.
Vista really doesn't suck as much as people say it does, and in those areas where it does fall short, it's not really Microsoft's fault (DRM, hooo!).
"16MB (fuck off, MiB fascists)" - The Mighty Buzzard
Has anyone done the math? Running out of product keys is NOT the reason. The product key is 25 characters long and contains uppercase letters and digits. If, for arguments sake, 20 characters are real, and the last 5 are 'check characters', then this allows 36 ^ 20 possible combinations. This is 1.3E+31. This is enough for every person on earth to have a billion billion keys. If there are only 15 unique characters, with 10 'check characters', then this is 36 ^ 15 which is 2.2E+23. Or every person on earth could have about 3000 billion keys. I dont know what Micro$oft's real motive is here, but running out of keys is NOT it!!
This is why you Mac Zealots fail so.
The article posts about supporting a product, as if it is a bad thing to do. The fact that Microshaft is still standing behind a 6-year-old operating system while it has two newer ones stands for their integrity. Let's see Apple do that - oh wait, they don't have a new OS in as much time, and make you pay for the major patches...
Oh yes, Apple is SOO much better than Microsoft.
Erutangis ym si siht.
There's another issue for business aside from simply buying it on new machines. It's the issue of new procedures, new issues, hardware compatibility, software compatibility, and most frightening of all to IT managers, the users themselves. Folks have had years to get used to XP, and a lot of the bugs, security and otherwise, have been worked out of it. It's not a great operating system, but it's a familiar one, and a lot of IT guys (myself included) are taking the position "Better the devil you know than the devil you don't."
There has always been something of an upgrade hell involved in moving to new operating systems, but never before have I seen such a general fear and distrust of an upgrade path(save perhaps from DOS 3.3 to DOS 4.0) as I've seen with Vista.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
Using slashes as delimiters/highlighters in the same sentence is /retarded/. Cut it out.
I always think of Brazil, the Terry Gilliam movie. One cosmetic-surgery patient favors a doctor who is completely ineffectual. The woman he treats looks older and older and older, but the doctor is adamant that only his treatment will work, and even sounds authoritative, despite his utter failure to deliver. Another woman favors a doctor who makes her look younger and younger and younger. The ineffectual doctor thinks he's on equal footing with the guy whose treatment actually works, and keeps demanding respect and attention and obeisance. He is the equivalent of Monty Python's Black Knight, From The Holy Grail movie, missing all his arms and legs, who calls to the knight who has just pathetically vanquished him, "Come back and fight, you chicken!"
Microsoft is that way. Like the doctor in Brazil who keeps saying he has the cure, the treatment. Like the Black Knight that has been utterly defeated, who still thinks he's invincible.
But the truth is that Microsoft has peaked and it's all downhill from here. I am preaching to the choir. Hope you all enjoy the similes, because they are... oddly on target, aren't they?
Because, look, no trojans or viruses on OS X? How long can anyone keep that secret? Free, as in beer, with Linux? While old veryveryfast but not thefastest computers are obsolescenced by Moore'e Law?
The TIME for Microsoft has passed, and everyone knows it, except the lawyers. The truth is, the lawyers are even squirming. They are never ones to be in it for the long haul. That's why they have hourly rates.
Vista. Total, utter failure! No backtalk, now! This is really happening, Microsoft has lost its way and the wolves are at the door.
1. M$ stops selling it
2. My apps require Vista, or whatever
3. People wise up and let me run Linux instead
4. I can get the hell out of IT
Enlightenment is a pipe dream. So where's the pipe?
There are 25 alphanumeric characters in the registration.
According to the MS Windows calculator 36 to the power of 25 is...
8.0828127746476406064313960045654e+38
That is over 124,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 copies for every human being on the planet!
I'll see your Constitution and raise you a Queen.
Maybe Microsoft wants people to be able to enter in their CD-keys and not have Windows reject them. That sounds like a nifty feature.
If Vista didn't suck then I wouldn't still be reading horror stories about DRM, HD-crippling, driver issues, kernel vulnerabilities etc. etc. etc. long after it has been released.
Yeah, and using iTunes DRM will kill your pets also. Except I've been using iTunes and Vista for years and I've never run into any problems related to DRM or any of that horrible evil stuff Slashdotters are always ranting about. I've no problem with driver support, either. (BTW, the kernel vulnerability was a driver issue also.)
Barely a week goes by without a handful of things like this or this cropping up.
That's because you're getting your news from Slashdot. None of those stories are covered by the mainstream media because, other than Slashdot, nobody cares.
I've been part of several discussions trying to ascertain what advantages Vista actually offers to outweigh the drawbacks and it ain't pretty. The bottom line for us, and I daresay hundreds of thousands of other organisations, is that XP works, is mostly stable and is well supported. Vista can't compete with that - and they're calling it an upgrade?
Vista works better, is as (or more) stable, and is also well-supported. I'm surprised at how much more polished Vista is than XP.
So if you need Microsoft - and unfortunately we still need to develop with DirectX - then XP will do fine.
Ok, but please, PLEASE do your QA and testing on Vista as well for people who prefer it. Don't be EA.
Comment of the year
Because it's there?
What if the Hokey Pokey really is what it's all about?
Doh, typo. I haven't been using Vista for years, I've been using it for months. iTunes I have been using for years. Sorry.
Comment of the year
akkarin noted a story about a new Service patch for XP. Dubbed SP2c, the new service patch contains no bug fixes or features. Instead, this exciting patch exists only to add new valid active product registration keys. Oops.
...when it comes to Windows. Seriously, I think that the editors (and most of the readers) here see something that sounds ridiculous and say, "Oh, it's for Windows. It must be true, no matter how silly it seems."
This is not a new service pack. This is not a patch. It is a new OEM release of Windows XP that includes a different activation keyspace because they were running out of activation keys. Current Windows users don't need to do or install anything. Future Windows users won't need to do or install anything. The only case where you might have to do something differently is if you have multiple copies lying around and try to use an old media kit with a new activation key, or vice versa. But assuming that you have a legal copy of Windows, you should have keys and media that match.
I agree. (640K x 10,000)^4 + 3,000,000 ought to be enough for anybody.
And you dare to imply that Slashdot isn't permanent? Never have I witnessed a more true blasphemy.
We are permanent. We are one. We are +5 Karmawhores and can afford to burn. You promote a false God. There is only one root.
Slashdot, home of supporters of free software, free music, and free speech.Except for Moderators that disagree with you.
I administer a very small shop, i.e. my home, but I am not willing to trust M$ about anything. Keep track of what is visited and flag what is a threat. Control incoming ports and educate users about email dangers and why visiting Pron sites is a bad idea, just because they are a lure, (notwithstanding the allure of the hot babe on babe action that you might find there along with the automatically installed malware).
Tell me again how Vista is selling well!
Bwahahahahaha!!!
Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
I wish they'd put crap like that at the top of the articles, so I could stop reading there and have a bit more of my life back.
If I knew the wedgies I gave you back in 6th grade would have resulted in this . . . I might have taken a moments pause.
TEH OMG!!11!!1! How DARE that evil dastardly MS actually try to make sure we can't steal their software?
Doesn't Mikr0$$$$$$$$$l0th understand that programmers deserve to be unpaid slave labor? They are going to kill FOSS!!!! TEH OMG!!!11!!1!
Vista's fully-indexed search is worth the upgrade IMHO. I'm not an organized guy and I need help with finding my docs.
Dell offers XP on their business-class Latitude laptops.
Oooh! I'm Danish, so I feel I need to contribute here...n t/uploads/2006/03/bill-gates.jpg s 2/funny-pictures-the-bill-gates-empire-xFw.jpg
http://perkypants.org.nyud.net:8090/blog/wp-conte
http://www.wayodd.com.nyud.net:8090/funny-picture
My internet connection is acting up, so I'm afraid you'll have yo imagine further insults to Gates, the eater of souls.
Real businesses buy machines, and immediately wipe the operating system.
Seriously.
Think of all that crapware that came on your Dell. Frigging McAfee or whatever. A real IT shop ain't going to support that random crap. They say "standard image" and that's that.
So if my next computer for work comes with Vista, I certainly won't see it.
It's a nice business, isn't it? The microsoft tax gets paid twice, once for the OEM O/S and a second time for the corporate licence.
Thats one reason VHS won out over Beta.. For the average joe "good enough" is how they live their lives, and they make up most of any large consumer market.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Puppy Linux
Damn Small Linux
Try a live CD of either one. They should work fine on your specs.
Vista works better,
I've been telling my coworkers that changing from one well known set of problems (XP) to another, new and uncharted set of problems (Vista) most of which haven't surfaced yet, is dangerous.
IOW, we mostly know XP by know. We know its weaknesses and strengths. Why should we now change to something that has unknown weaknesses and strengths?
RTFM/Google
Lots of the Windows API is undocumented and that very part is fast and makes Office fast.
IF they open the API, (i said IF, and just theoretically) OO.o will be much faster, so will Java, GTK+, PHP, and so on. Apache will be stable as well. But that is IF.
Why WASTE MILLIONS marketing linux when web2.0 and http://savannah.gnu.org/task/?7027 allow dummy installation training?