Windows XP Update Library On a CD

KrispyKofta sends us to APC Magazine for a writeup on Project Dakota, a one-man effort to provide all Windows XP SP2 updates on one downloadable CD. It's poor man's XP SP3, but even when SP3 is out, the project will continue to offer a CD that will install all patches offline. "When was the last time you installed a fresh copy of Windows XP SP2? The process is still straightforward and relatively quick... but then you think 'I'll just make sure the patches are up to date,' and proceed to stare in horror at the 100+ security updates and critical fixes that Windows Update or WSUS demands you install. And it takes forever. A better option which we've just discovered is the innovative work of Alek Patsouris... it's a self-contained boot CD which contains all the necessary updates to automatically patch a Windows XP SP2 system with all the patches available at the CD's build time."

Comments

It is all about control

[EmbeddedJanitor]

"Not on MS servers" is FUD, not a valid reason. For MS it is all about controlling the distribution chain.

hehe

[rastoboy29]

Yet another way that the Linux based OS's are actually, qualitatively superior to Windows, even for normal people.  Since we don't have to worry about licensing, we can just, you know, work, and do stuff for you because we like you.

Dial-up still exists

[tepples]

Releasing the updates on CD ROM is wasting oil and probably a lot more energy than it takes to download the patches How many megabytes of patches for Windows XP are there, and how much energy does a computer use while downloading them over a dial-up link at 16 megabytes per hour?

Re:c't Offline Update

[kellyb9]

Reknowned IT publisher Heise is already offering an even better solution "Reknowned" IT software developer Linus Torvald is already offering a better solution. There we go... fixed that for you... well sort of.