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Windows XP SP3 Released To Manufacturing

mike_diack was one of many readers to send word that Windows XP SP3 been released to manufacturing. It will be available to OEMs and enterprise customers on April 29. Here is a summary of features and changes. The company will wait till "early summer" to enable SP3 downloads through Automatic Updates.

323 comments

  1. I will slipstream it and add the driver pack to my by Joe+The+Dragon · · Score: 4, Informative

    I will slipstream it and add the driver pack to my disks.

    http://driverpacks.net/DriverPacks/

  2. RTM? by Dr.D.IS.GREAT · · Score: 0, Troll

    if sp3 is really at RTM status that is a waste, the end of retail XP is nigh, and vista is pretty much the only thing on the shelves right now with OEM builds, we are all boned...

    1. Re:RTM? by The+Second+Horseman · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You're not really the customer for this if you're thinking retail. Sure, it's a patch set for end-users, but the main target is corporate / volume license customers (for example, higher ed) customers who want updated media, drivers, etc. and don't want to move to Vista yet. They're still going to be able to get and use XP (downgrade rights) via their license agreement, and many will probably use XP for another couple of years.

    2. Re:RTM? by MeMeMeMe · · Score: 3, Funny

      ??? What planet do you live on? Vista is as efficient as an elephant in a phone booth. ???

    3. Re:RTM? by Unnngh! · · Score: 5, Funny

      Something must have been pretty damn efficient to fit an elephant into a telephone booth.

    4. Re:RTM? by theeddie55 · · Score: 3, Funny

      not really, there's no specifics on the size of the elephant (or the phone booth)

    5. Re:RTM? by smittyoneeach · · Score: 5, Funny

      Legend has it that Vista the Elephant was wandering about on the beach, minding its own business, when it spied a piano on a small island just offshore, at his favorite bar, The Funky Trunk. TFT had a land bridge briefly at low tide, but the water formed a moat to keep out the riff-raff most of the time. The durable unit sat outside on the deck, adjacent the call box. (But don't let the delightfully retro rotary dial, the old style mouthpiece, or the earpiece with the frayed, cloth-covered cord within the weathered, almost out-house-ish callbox distract you from the ivories on the piano, or the ivory on the shore, or you'll screw up the pacing of this admittedly predictable short story).
      Something of a piano aficionado , the elephant wandered out to the island to relive an Anderson and Roe moment.
      Suddenly, a shark appeared between the elephant and the island, water barely deep enough for the sleek menace to move!
      Turning in alarm, the elephant started to move back to the shore. Another shark! What to do? Arriving at full panic, the elephant leapt with stunning mechanical efficiency clear over the first predator, landing in the phone booth.
      Now you know the story of how Vista jumped the shark.

      --
      Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
    6. Re:RTM? by notamisfit · · Score: 1

      Well, except for the ones who are contemplating upgrading their Windows 2000 systems. (I install embedded PC's for GE wind turbines, and they're still running Win2k.)

      --
      Jesus is coming -- look busy!
    7. Re:RTM? by realcoolguy425 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      You sir have made me go log in for the first time in years to post a reply to Slashdot. Incorporating the only animal that can't jump, and Microsoft into a legendary parable... We need to invent new words to describe awesome.

    8. Re:RTM? by alshithead · · Score: 4, Funny

      "You sir have made me go log in for the first time in years to post a reply to Slashdot. Incorporating the only animal that can't jump, and Microsoft into a legendary parable... We need to invent new words to describe awesome."

      Wait just a minute. I'm sure elephants can jump. I've seen it in lots of cartoons.

      --
      I reserve the right to think for myself. Others' opinions are optional. Puppy on lap = typos...not illiteracy.
    9. Re:RTM? by Aeternitas827 · · Score: 1

      And, don't forget (dear God, forgive me for this):

      "Miss Mary Mack Mack Mack
      All dressed in black, black, black
      With silver buttons, buttons, buttons
      All down her back, back, back.

      She asked her mother, mother, mother
      For 50 cents, cents, cents
      To see the elephants, elephants, elephants
      Jump over the fence, fence, fence.


      They jumped so high, high, high
      They reached the sky, sky, sky
      And they didn't come back, back, back
      'Til the 4th of July, ly, ly!"

      --
      I don't post AC. I like my -1, Flamebaits. Trump/Sheen 2012 on the Batshit Insane ticket!
    10. Re:RTM? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Elephant jumping?

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK27aknWVI4

      Nuff said

      -Icey

    11. Re:RTM? by Novus · · Score: 1

      Something must have been pretty damn efficient to fit an elephant into a telephone booth. Plenty of space here.
    12. Re:RTM? by ecavalli · · Score: 1

      Since we're apparently going down this road, I read a long time ago that elephants physically can jump, but that the stress of doing so, and their massive bulk would almost definitely result in shattered leg bones.

      Thus, over the years, they've developed an innate aversion to jumping.

      Not that they'd ever really have much reason to jump anyway...

      Would anyone like to refute my claims or support something that I only vaguely remember from childhood?

    13. Re:RTM? by alshithead · · Score: 1

      What about a really, really small jump? More like a hop. Isn't a hop just a small jump? :)

      --
      I reserve the right to think for myself. Others' opinions are optional. Puppy on lap = typos...not illiteracy.
    14. Re:RTM? by montyzooooma · · Score: 1

      Elephants can't jump.

    15. Re:RTM? by captain_dope_pants · · Score: 3, Funny

      Elephants can't jump.

      I thought it was white men
      --
      while (true != false) process_more_stupid_code();
    16. Re:RTM? by erroneus · · Score: 1

      There's nothing wrong with Windows 2000.

    17. Re:RTM? by Fieryphoenix · · Score: 2, Funny

      Elephants can in fact jump and rather high, too. Just not here. They've been patiently guiding human evolution until we reach the point where we can take them to the moon.

    18. Re:RTM? by LittleGuy · · Score: 1

      Elephants can't jump.

      I thought it was white men


      Actually, it's white elephants, thanks to a tech by the name of Ahab.

      --
      Mod Karma -1: I sed bad wurds. If I cep my mouf shut, I wud be at riyses.
    19. Re:RTM? by Fast+Thick+Pants · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Very true, as long as you've updated the daylight saving time entries in the registry, have a third-party firewall, don't need Quicktime, and have kindly-written XP drivers for any newer hardware. The single greatest thing about XP was that Microsoft shipped it with a 9 in this registry key:

      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\CompletionChar
      Of course you can do that yourself in Win2k.
    20. Re:RTM? by smittyoneeach · · Score: 1

      Whereas the pink elephants do a fine ballet, in my field of vision...

      --
      Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
    21. Re:RTM? by eno2001 · · Score: 1

      This wouldn't happen on their home world where the gravity isn't quite as strong. When I last visited, I found that my diving skills were tremendously better than they are here on Earth. So, you may be wondering, why do the elephants stay? It is a labour of love. But at the end of the day, they stay because they can.

      --
      -"...bad old ideas look confusingly fresh when they are packaged as technology" - Jaron Lanier (Digital Maoism on Edge.o
  3. Old news? by cabledaddy3 · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Wasn't this release a while ago with an April date for downloading via windows update? Now it's end of summer? I've been using it for quite some time now. Seems to be working fine. My wife primarily uses that computer and never complains of any problems. It is also the computer with the shared external drive for all of my media and backups. No networking problems either.

    1. Re:Old news? by Allador · · Score: 1

      The person who posted the article just couldnt be bothered to read it.

      OEM/MSDN is going out in the next couple of days. General availability via Windows Update and download center on April 29th.

      How are you using something that was just mastered today? Were you using a beta?

  4. MS: Making the impossible possible! by EmbeddedJanitor · · Score: 5, Funny

    Remember when XP SP3 was impossible which was why everyone had to change to Vista?

    --
    Engineering is the art of compromise.
    1. Re:MS: Making the impossible possible! by 10101001+10101001 · · Score: 2, Funny

      So, is Microsoft the Eternal Sword or Origin?

      --
      Eurohacker European paranoia, gun rights, and h
    2. Re:MS: Making the impossible possible! by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      Funny... I thought everyone was switching to Macs instead. :P

    3. Re:MS: Making the impossible possible! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You don't understand! SP3 will make XP sooo bad that Vista will look good!

    4. Re:MS: Making the impossible possible! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's exactly what I'm afraid of! :-o (Only half kidding.)

  5. Patching is AWESOME! by urbanriot · · Score: 5, Funny

    OMG, I can't wait, only 8 more days until I can patch my system with SP3! So exciting... patches... wooo!!!

    1. Re:Patching is AWESOME! by jollyreaper · · Score: 1

      No, you got it wrong. "Sweet Pickles is awesome." In fact, "Sweet Pickles is great!"

      (and if anyone catches the reference, you have my sympathy.)

      --
      Kwisatz Haderach
      Sell the spice to CHOAM
      This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
  6. Umm... by calebt3 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Isn't it kinda late to be releasing to manufactures? How much more will they be able to use it?

    1. Re:Umm... by maxume · · Score: 2, Informative

      Some customers like their service packs on shiny CD's. Those actually get made somewhere.

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
  7. So much service! by Fluffeh · · Score: 4, Insightful

    While I love the fact that my OS is being helped along and that they are keeping it up to date, I am still a little annoyed that the "follow up" OS is really still about as useful as a bucket full of random sized bolts.

    Though I love gaming, each month seems to bring me closer and closer to blowing away all three of my windows boxes and replacing them with a distro of Ubuntu or something similar. My lack of knowledge is the one thing keeping that at bay for now.

    When will Microsoft simply get the fact that a flashy desktop DOES NOT COMPENSATE FOR A SHITTY OS.

    --
    Moved to http://soylentnews.org/. You are invited to join us too!
    1. Re:So much service! by aliquis · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Personally I wouldn't compare computer and console gaming, I like my RTS and Quake and neither works good on console I assume. Anyway, at a console you do indeed get gaming without a stupid OS ;D. So if there are any approriate time to mention console gaming this must be it.

      Regarding lack of knowledge have no fear, today there are so many more users, documentation, forums, and what not, and support for various things have improved and the desktops are better and so on. For just using Ubuntu I doubt you need any knowledge at all, basic understanding on how the package manager works and you are done.

    2. Re:So much service! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ubuntu most of the time requires no specific knowledge. Start the live cd, double click the install icon and click next. Wait fifteen minutes and you have a stable system.

    3. Re:So much service! by Bandman · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Wanna bet on whether or not it "accidently" breaks enough machines to convince people to upgrade?

    4. Re:So much service! by ehrichweiss · · Score: 1

      The parent's comment is proof positive there needs to be a "Sad but True" for moderation.

      --
      0x09F911029D74E35BD84156C5635688C0
    5. Re:So much service! by tepples · · Score: 1

      Anyway, at a console you do indeed get gaming without a stupid OS ;D. Not always. I can think of two ways that the Wii operating system is stupid. First, it requires all code to be signed, and Nintendo's code signing policy explicitly shuts out developers in home offices. Second, even for end users, you can't just insert the disc and go; you have to use the Wii Remote to point twice, even if you plan to use a GameCube controller to actually play the game (e.g. GCN games or Brawl).
    6. Re:So much service! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, if you own an Abit 965 or IP35 board, watchout! Ubuntu 7.10 and, supposedly, 8.04 have issues with the ICH8 chipset.

      So I'm going to install 7.04 which purpotedly installs and runs just fine while using 4 of the ports.

    7. Re:So much service! by schnikies79 · · Score: 1

      No, there needs to be a tinfoil-hat mod.

      --
      Gone!
    8. Re:So much service! by pizpot · · Score: 5, Informative

      How to do your Windows/Ubuntu PC, with 2 hardrives:

      drive 1,120GB (operating systems and windows programs)
      drive 2 200GB+ (linux data)

      partition drive 1 into four partitions of this size:

      1. 20G - for XP (fat32)
      2. 20G - for XP backup (fat32)
      3. 60G - for windows data (fat32)
      4. 20G - for ubuntu linux / (ext2)

      partition drive 2 into 2 partitions:
      1. 512 MB for linux swap
      2. the rest for linux /home (ext2)

      Google "hirens download" for a cd with partition and ghost programs.

      Install XP on drive 1 partition 1 and patch it up and install all your stuff. Put games in a folder called "programs" on part 3. Make sure you have a router firewall so XP not get hacked right away.

      Install Ubuntu linux (or whatever) to the 4th partition on drive 1, tell it to use the big partition on drive 2 as /home.

      Then ghost XP to partition 2 for when it goes to shit. When that happens, just ghost it back from 2 to 1: 5 minutes beats an hour or two.

      If you re-install windows, you will lose your boot menu that linux did for you. Just boot to the ubuntu cd, and click Apps, Terminal and then:
      grub
      find /boot/grub/stage1
      -->it replies with (hd0,3)
      root (hd0,3)
      setup (hd0)
      quit
      exit

    9. Re:So much service! by aliquis · · Score: 1

      Ok, I didn't knew if they even used console hosted OSes or not. But I think that adding "stupid" before it covered the occasion where that may be. (But now when I type it I recall that the Xbox used some Windows CE-based/evolved OS didn't it?)

      I have never seen a Wii in reallife so I have no idea how it is. I don't know if "how to boot" should count as something OS deficient or not (even if it may indeed run on top of an OS in this case.)

      Thanks for the info anyway. If you now more about the OSes in consoles feel free to tell me more. But maybe this thread isn't the place for that :)

      dospam@gmail.com

    10. Re:So much service! by pizpot · · Score: 5, Informative

      been using it since it went out March 28th on MSDN... it is fine.

    11. Re:So much service! by notamisfit · · Score: 2

      Unless your hardware isn't supported (ie Broadcom). Then you're pretty much boned. Other than that, it's all good.

      --
      Jesus is coming -- look busy!
    12. Re:So much service! by T-Bone-T · · Score: 1

      It took me hours and hours to research that. Thanks for putting it all in a simple step-by-step guide!

    13. Re:So much service! by couchslug · · Score: 1

      "My lack of knowledge is the one thing keeping that at bay for now."

      Install Linux on ONE of those boxes, and use the others to surf for info if you have problems with the Linux install. Want knowledge? Learn by doing.

      --
      "This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
    14. Re:So much service! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      My lack of knowledge is the one thing keeping that at bay for now. I have at least one friend who gave up on Ubuntu on the grounds that it was too user friendly and didn't feel like real linux any more. Just something to think about.
    15. Re:So much service! by MightyMartian · · Score: 3, Funny

      I have at least one friend who gave up on Ubuntu on the grounds that it was too user friendly and didn't feel like real linux any more. Just something to think about.

      Yes, I'm sure the Ubuntu development team is going to lose sleep over some flaming lunatic.
      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    16. Re:So much service! by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Vista isn't nearly, even remotely, as bad as Slashdotters think it is. Have you actually tried it, or are you just parroting others?

      In any case, it's not even in the running for "shitty." MacOS 7.0, before it was patched, would permanently corrupt itself if you removed a Font from the System Folder. THAT'S shitty. Vista is nothing close.

    17. Re:So much service! by bigstrat2003 · · Score: 1

      Very true. I've been using Vista since it was available on Newegg, and have had almost no problems (not none, but then again, it isn't like people have no problems in any OS). It works beautifully, people crying about Vista are either a) unfortunate in the fact that their hardware/app isn't supported (and this isn't the majority of the problems), or b) spreading FUD.

      --
      "16MB (fuck off, MiB fascists)" - The Mighty Buzzard
    18. Re:So much service! by pizpot · · Score: 1

      broadcom is supported for a while now :-)

    19. Re:So much service! by Valacosa · · Score: 1

      I can vouch for the multiple partitions method, though my implementation is a bit extreme. Personally, I'm running out of drive letters.

      My own advice to add to the post above:
      - Round those 20GB partitions down to around 15GB or so, they'll still be big enough and it'll halve your cluster size.
      - There's actually no need to avoid NTFS anymore, as Ubuntu now has stable NTFS read-write support. There are also drivers such that you can read/write ext3 partitions under Windows, but I haven't found one I like yet.

      --
      "Live as if you'll die tomorrow." Ridiculous. You could die later today.
    20. Re:So much service! by pizpot · · Score: 2, Informative

      Your welcome. After you install XP, go to Add/Remove Software, Windows components, and remove everything there including Internet Explorer. Install Spybot, Zone Alarm, and maybe AVG. If you need IE to download Firefox, just Start,Run, iexplore. Don't do any email in windows, and as little internet as possible... preferably just multiplayer or minimal work stuff.

      Do email, credit cards, paypal etc in linux. After you install ubuntu 7.10, download automatix and run it. That fixes your sources. Then click Admin,Sources and uncheck the cdrom. Then Admin,Security,Login Tab and put yourself on auto login. To install software use Add/Remove or sudo aptitude install program-name. --never locks up. Linux puts your email, if you use mozilla-thunderbird, in a hidden folder in your /home folder. Hidden files/folders start with a dot. To make something run that won't, right-click on it and make it executable. You can install MS Office97 in wine in linux. The version of wine shipping to ubuntu can't do warcraft3 multiplayer..., you need to google "pizpot downgrade wine" and read that thread on how to upgrade wine so it works. Virtualbox is cool, you can install XP into linux and I used it to run a major 3d cad program just fine. The webpage uubuntuguide is where you look first for advice, then google and the ubuntuforums second. There is so much to tell... use the force.

    21. Re:So much service! by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      How to do your Windows/Ubuntu PC, with 2 hardrives:
      Thanks, pal.

      [note to self: renew /. subscription soon. I'm down to >500 pages.]
      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    22. Re:So much service! by pizpot · · Score: 1

      > - Round those 20GB partitions down to around 15GB or so, they'll still be big enough and it'll halve your cluster size.

      Cool, and in fact, XP installs just fine into a 2GB partition as long as you put program installs elsewhere. :-)

      > There's actually no need to avoid NTFS anymore

      I agree, except it makes me type my password everytime I access a ntfs so I still avoid it. I figured out XP will give you the fat32 option as longer as it is a 30GB part or smaller. You can resizes it later. In fact, you can install it on ntfs and convert it to fat32 no problem... just tried that. Cheers for beers!

    23. Re:So much service! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The parent's comment is proof positive there needs to be a "Sad but True" for moderation. How about the "anti-MS bullshit posted just for the sake of badmouthing MS" mod?
    24. Re:So much service! by pizpot · · Score: 1

      oh yeah, very important> have wired internet plugged in when you install ubuntu. if not, redo it. Also, if you can't fix grub boot menu with above method, just reinstall ubuntu overtop itself. You can leave your /home partition alone--don't format it.

    25. Re:So much service! by Minwee · · Score: 4, Informative

      Why are you formatting the first drive with FAT32? Do you just not like your data?

      Linux OSes including Ubuntu have had stable read/write support for NTFS for over a year now. The only reason to subject yourself to FAT32 is if you plan on booting to Windows 98.

    26. Re:So much service! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      that was a specific tutorial, waiting for scripts to index that post?

    27. Re:So much service! by TheQuantumShift · · Score: 1

      And they say Linux is too technical and complicated for the masses...

      --

      Shift happens. Fire it up.
    28. Re:So much service! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why would you use FAT32? Slow, unreliable, no support for big files etc. Linux writes to NTFS just fine, which is a lot better. (although a little slower)

    29. Re:So much service! by pizpot · · Score: 1

      >Why are you formatting the first drive with FAT32? Do you just not like your data?

      Fine with me, you could explain more if you like. NTFS is only recently documented though, and I have experienced linux borking it up myself, but that was a year ago, and that is ages at the rate linux grows smarter. Then again, I have had lots of good times with it too. Windows, I have no problem with either, and I don't even defrag. I don't do torrents in windows, that would frag you up I bet. Like I said, I use fat32 because otherwise ubuntu 7.10 asks my password everytime I access a fat32, if you know the workaround that would be nice. :-) I use Solidworks, Unigraphics, visual studio, Painkiller, Warcraft etc in windows and it is not crashing from fat32 that I know of.

    30. Re:So much service! by blind+biker · · Score: 1

      Windows Vista and the forced upgrade to it (or the forced retirement of Windows XP) is what finally broke this came's back and convinced me to get myself an Eee PC - with Xandros. It's got all I need to do work.

      --
      "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
    31. Re:So much service! by T-Bone-T · · Score: 1

      Actually, that is pretty complicated for the average user. There are a lot of unmentioned substeps. I looked up how to get my wireless card working in Ubuntu and there was almost always a single step: use NDISWrapper. That alone was several more steps. It eventually worked but I'm not sure how since it didn't work immediately and I didn't mess with it.

    32. Re:So much service! by yoyhed · · Score: 1

      So he's a flaming lunatic for liking the linux-y part of linux?

      --
      WHO NEEDS SHIFT WHEN YOU HAVE CAPSLOCK/ DAMN1
    33. Re:So much service! by blindd0t · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Though I love gaming, each month seems to bring me closer and closer to blowing away all three of my windows boxes and replacing them with a distro of Ubuntu or something similar. My lack of knowledge is the one thing keeping that at bay for now.

      In case you didn't already know, the next version of Ubuntu comes out Thursday this week (April 24th 2008). Though I would recommend waiting until the initial rush is over and you can actually connect to one of the mirrors (this may take a few days to a week), this new version includes a Windows installer which allows you to install (and uninstall, if you so desire) Ubuntu without having to worry about partitions and other aspects of OS installation you might be uncomfortable with. Here's a link to where it's mentioned on the Ubuntu site. :-)

    34. Re:So much service! by CSMatt · · Score: 2, Informative

      Just use BitTorrent. I believe all of the mirrors are permanent seeds on the official torrents.

    35. Re:So much service! by compro01 · · Score: 1

      IIRC, the xbox used a stripped down OS based on the win2k version of the NT kernel. no idea what the 360 uses.

      --
      upon the advice of my lawyer, i have no sig at this time
    36. Re:So much service! by compro01 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      why fat32? last time i checked, ntfs works just fine on ubuntu and ntfs is definetly more robust than fat32, in addition to doing away with that old annoying 4GB filesize limit.

      --
      upon the advice of my lawyer, i have no sig at this time
    37. Re:So much service! by rastoboy29 · · Score: 1

      LOL you already lost most humans with your first instruction--"partition harddrive".

    38. Re:So much service! by aliquis · · Score: 1

      http://blogs.msdn.com/xboxteam/archive/2006/02/17/534421.aspx
      http://www.xbreporter.com/xbox_system_specifications.php

      I was expecting to find more details, I don't wanna look around more than that. Seems like it uses it's own custom OS but based on various existing Windows technology.

    39. Re:So much service! by node+3 · · Score: 4, Funny

      No, there needs to be a tinfoil-hat mod. Sad, but true.
    40. Re:So much service! by node+3 · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure how ripping on System 7 demonstrates that Vista doesn't suck.

    41. Re:So much service! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      that font You are not a robot. Deal with it.
    42. Re:So much service! by Machtyn · · Score: 1

      I like sticking a 100MB boot partition at the front. Ranish Partition Manager is a really nice one. It is particularly nice if you want to have multi-Windows OS's on the same machine.

      Still, that is a nice synopsis.

    43. Re:So much service! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fluffeh, good comment but iá like to let you know recently i have just moved away from Windows Xp to linux, i am total newbie too, and must say here that the transittion was a very pleasant experience. Most linux distros now are done using whats called Äive scripts, in other words you can run the os from the disk, no need to install it straight off, have a play around and get used to to how the system works. I tried pclinuxos and found it very easy to navigate and have not had to use the command line tool at all as yet. Downloading the programs you wish to use (if not included already) is a piece of cake!
      Like you i became fed up with all the security issues and crashes. As i said earilier, you can run most linux operating systems from the cd disk without having to install. Give it a go!
      Steve.

    44. Re:So much service! by Lord+Kano · · Score: 1

      I am still a little annoyed that the "follow up" OS is really still about as useful as a bucket full of random sized bolts.

      That's quite useful if you're making an IED. ... ...
      Vista is like a roadside bomb... ... ...
      Excellent point.

      LK

      --
      "Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
    45. Re:So much service! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bollocks its fine - There is a critical fault with windows VPN connections using the beta SP - not sure if it is fixed in the RTM versions.
      The client VPN connects, but due to some fault (i suspect route table errors) no traffic passes over the vpn - and Yay! you cant uninstall the beta SP.
      You sound like microsoft ... "yeah ... we tested it on a laptop, so therefore we can safely say it works reliably on every mobile device known"

    46. Re:So much service! by jawtheshark · · Score: 1

      I would have the same objection to FAT32, but you could keep your data entirely on ext2 because you can get an NTFS implementation of ext2 for Windows which works fine. Linky.

      These days, the only place where FAT32 is appropriate is an USB stick.

      --
      Ahhh...the great dumpster continuum. Many a free computer will be found there. -- sowth (748135)
    47. Re:So much service! by gnalre · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Very true. I've been using Vista since it was available on Newegg, and have had almost no problems (not none, but then again, it isn't like people have no problems in any OS). It works beautifully, people crying about Vista are either a) unfortunate in the fact that their hardware/app isn't supported (and this isn't the majority of the problems), or b) spreading FUD. Hurrah for you. You have played Microsoft roulette and we have a winner!

      The truth is I am sure Vista is fine for many people. I do assume Microsoft did some testing before release, however even with a brand new PC you just don't know how Vista will run. And why bother when you do know windows XP will run just fine,(and probably faster). Also if you look at what Vista gives you over XP, there is not a lot there to make it a must have upgrade especially with the afore mentioned risks associated with it.
      --
      Choose your allies carefully, it is highly unlikely you will be held accountable for the actions of your enemies
    48. Re:So much service! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, I'm sure the Ubuntu development team is going to lose sleep over some flaming lunatic. That's a little unfair.

      You don't know if (s)he was gay.
    49. Re:So much service! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't knock the bucket-o-bolts! I've lost count of the number of times I've needed something and found it in there.

      Vista on the other hand...

    50. Re:So much service! by giorgist · · Score: 3, Funny

      Hey that bucket is one of the most amazing things in nature. If you look long enough you will find a left handed square profile M4x.1" pitch bolt. Vista on the other hand is a bucket full of left handed square profile M4x.1" pitch bolts G

    51. Re:So much service! by Andtalath · · Score: 1

      Especially not when they are still the least flashy of the three major players in the market.
      It's quite fun to go around showing people that my low-power laptop has more 3D-effects than any Vista desktop can muster, and is still very much snappy.

    52. Re:So much service! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Would that be a positive or negative mod?

    53. Re:So much service! by LaskoVortex · · Score: 1

      And they say Linux is too technical and complicated for the masses...

      [In voice of officemate] "Could you please post instructions to get my network printer going on XP? Its a xerox phaser 8400. I've done everything. It has an IP address, but when I type it in the box it says "printer not found on network". But it "is found on network" because my friend is already printing to it from his OS X box. I put in the disk for the printer, and I think it installed something, but then, when I went to add a printer it didn't work. Could you spend the three hours its going to take for you to help me?"

      And they say windows is too complicated for the masses.

      --
      Just callin' it like I see it.
    54. Re:So much service! by LaskoVortex · · Score: 2, Funny

      MacOS 7.0, before it was patched, would permanently corrupt itself if you removed a Font from the System Folder.

      No, worse than that, the old Apple IIe we had in the eighth grade had a back-arrow that I thought was "Backspace", or maybe "Esc". If you touched it, the damn thing would power-cycle. Now THAT's shitty.

      Of course, I'm not even going to get into the Altair we had in 5th grade or the Sinclair 1000 I had at home.

      --
      Just callin' it like I see it.
    55. Re:So much service! by samurphy21 · · Score: 1

      Why would you do all this when the Ubuntu installer can resize partitions itself and install in the recovered space? It will even set up the grub entries for you.

    56. Re:So much service! by samwichse · · Score: 1

      One problem: A bucket of random-sized bolts is incredibly useful.

      Seriously.

      Sam

      (Note that Vista is still NOT)

    57. Re:So much service! by Britz · · Score: 1

      Installation is much easier with many Linux distros than with Windows. That is not a problem, because most people buy their PC with Windows pre-installed. If you don't want to learn anything (yes, some people prefer that) you can do it the Windows way. Just reinstall until everything works. Start with Ubuntu and then OpenSuse, Fedora, Mandriva, PCLinuxOS. If none of them support all the hardware out of the box and suits you, then just install Windows in the end. Worst case you get 6 reinstalls. Anyone on Slashdot that never had six reinstalls with Windows in a row?

    58. Re:So much service! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      cant uninstall the beta SP You can uninstall RC1. You can uninstall RC2. If you installed either of these on a production machine, you're fairly foolish, but if you installed anything earlier, please find another job.
    59. Re:So much service! by Malc · · Score: 1

      That's absolutely terribly advice telling people to install Windows to FAT32. Find some other way to share your files between the OSes if that's the only reason you're doing it. If it were possible, would you install Linux to FAT32? Didn't think so. So why be so foolish as to do the same with Windows?

    60. Re:So much service! by AvitarX · · Score: 1

      Fat 32 is terrible though, and Linux now has decent NTFS.

      also 20GB can be tight for the root partition.

      Quake Wars alone take up 5GB for example

      I am currently using 30.8GB on / (with a separate /home).

      With a healthy amount of open space to keep defragged it needs close to 40GB.

      Without linking or binding directories 20GB can run out fast.

      --
      Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
    61. Re:So much service! by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 1

      I'm just saying that, on the continuum of Operating System Shittiness, Vista isn't even close to the bottom. I've personally used much worse OSes... hell, Windows ME is one of them.

      If you genuinely think that Windows Vista is the worst OS ever (and you've actually used it, and aren't just parroting the groupthink), you should just be thankful you've never been exposed to worse ones. That's all.

    62. Re:So much service! by pebs · · Score: 1

      3. 60G - for windows data (fat32)

      You'll have to create that 60GB FAT32 partition with Linux, because Windows XP SP2 refuses to create a FAT32 partition larger than 32GB, but I believe it can access one with no problem?

      In any case, I'd just use NTFS for all my Windows partitions, because support for reading/writing NTFS partitions is mature enough in Linux.

      Instead of having a whole partition for your Windows XP backup, you can just give that space to one of your Linux partitions. Then while you're in Linux, use one of the many available tools to do a backup. For example, you can use dd. You can even pipe it through gzip to compress it and save space. You can even write a script to automate the process on a schedule if you wanted to.

      Instead of installing GRUB on the MBR, I would install it on the Linux partition and then use the Windows bootloader to boot grub using a method like this.

      I haven't tried this in Linux (worked flawlessly with VMWare Fusion), so I don't know how difficult it is, but you should be able to boot your Windows partition in VMWare. That way you only need to natively boot Windows for things like games, but everything else should run fine in a VM.

      --
      #!/
    63. Re:So much service! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wanna bet on whether or not it "accidently" breaks enough machines to convince people to upgrade? No bet there. It will as past experience with every other new MS OS starting with 95 will prove. Windows update was allowed to cause machines to use 100% cpu on every update attempt for months while the work around was kept secret after Vista came out. I'm thankful our company techs had the pull to get it.
    64. Re:So much service! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://www.sidux.com the most closest to stable most you need to know is the smxi script

      Knoppix is based on too many mickey mouse packages, cause nightmares later, sidux was from a nice driver friendly version of kanotix most of the developers left for sidux. And like Ubuntu its based on Debian. all the good desktop versions are..

      well worth your time to check out.

    65. Re:So much service! by RailRide · · Score: 2, Informative
      You'll have to create that 60GB FAT32 partition with Linux, because Windows XP SP2 refuses to create a FAT32 partition larger than 32GB, but I believe it can access one with no problem?


      XP's formatter is coded with a 32GB limit under FAT32. A utility called FAT32format allows you to format up to FAT32's actual limit once you've partitioned the drive and given it a drive letter under XP. I used it on a 160GB drive in an external USB box that I decided had to be accessible to Win9x machines. Worked for me.

      ---PCJ

    66. Re:So much service! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, one dealer reports SP3 causes multiple reboots on several client machines, and takes longer than XP itself to install.

      Just as well, it does not install IE7. Those that 'upgraded' to IE7 reported slow machines afterwards, which is also what you get if you install Norton.

      Then there is the new large format COA stickers that dont work with old original XP disks, which makes things awkward when you upgrade to XP from a bucket version of Vista.

    67. Re:So much service! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Get it through a torrent then: the initial rush will mean more seeds/peers and you'll get it a lot faster than trying to schlep it off the mirror servers.

    68. Re:So much service! by grimarr · · Score: 1

      I haven't tried this in Linux (worked flawlessly with VMWare Fusion), so I don't know how difficult it is, but you should be able to boot your Windows partition in VMWare. That way you only need to natively boot Windows for things like games, but everything else should run fine in a VM. I haven't been able to get this to work. The big problem is that VMware provides a somewhat different set of hardware than your system really has. When you installed Windows, it scoped out a ton of information about your system, and loaded just the drivers that were proper (hopefully). When you boot that same partition in VMware, it sees a very different set of hardware, and things don't go well. It's as though you've swapped motherboards, graphics boards, and network boards, and maybe more. Windows doesn't like that.

      I have also tried it the other way around: Under Windows, I ran VMware, and defined a VM based on the raw Linux partition on my machine. That worked, although it too complained about the fact that the hardware had changed radically -- at least Linux was willing to reconfigure on the fly to adapt to the new configuration. I decided that I didn't really want to run that way, though, so I haven't done any more work on it. I suspect that you could have two slightly different boot configs so that whether you boot from VMware or natively, it would just work, but I'm not sure. That would be sort of cool. Has anyone done that?

      P.S. I was using CentOS 4 when I tried this -- it may work better with newer distros.
    69. Re:So much service! by PachmanP · · Score: 1

      Probably a good bet. What I found most interesting though was that it specifically said it included all the updates that people may have "missed" by deselecting them in windows update. I don't know about you but when I "miss" a windows update I damn well mean to. I'm looking at you WGA Tool. I suspect may have to pass on this one, or maybe Ubuntu 8.04 won't be as bad as last time...

      --
      You're thinking small. Why miniaturize the laser, when we could instead enlarge the sharks? -John Searle
    70. Re:So much service! by Fweeky · · Score: 3, Insightful

      download automatix and run it No, please don't. It's buggy, it screws up updates, and it's been discontinued.
    71. Re:So much service! by operagost · · Score: 1

      Which Linuxy part? The horrible, unintuitive GUIs, the poorly documented text configuration files, or the CLI syntax that looks like line noise?

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    72. Re:So much service! by Jon_S · · Score: 1

      Exactly! I have applied most patches, but specifically excluded WGA, even though I have nothing to hide (legit OEM licences on all my boxes). There were just too many horror stories.

      Does this mean that if I want to keep WGA off my machines, then I can't install SP3 at all? If I don't install SP3, will my machines stop getting security updates?

    73. Re:So much service! by i_liek_turtles · · Score: 1

      Ever tried to restore an iPod without using a Windows or Mac partition?

    74. Re:So much service! by operagost · · Score: 1

      That was a cursor key, so if it caused your Apple IIe to reboot, that's definitely a hardware problem.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    75. Re:So much service! by PitaBred · · Score: 1

      If Microsoft as a company wouldn't behave as such a douche to it's customers, maybe people wouldn't be badmouthing them?

    76. Re:So much service! by MrNiceguy_KS · · Score: 1
      A lot of people recommend against Automatix. It tends to cause problems when you upgrade to the next version. I also recommend you download and install an Ext Filesystem driver for Windows. This will allow you to access your Linux data from Windows. There are several available - the one I use is at http://www.fs-driver.org/

      Firefox is much nicer if you use the same profile under both OSs. Start up the Linux one first and configure it to your liking. Then boot into Windows. (You'll need to have already installed an Ext driver) Start, Run, Firefox.exe -profilemanager and create a new profile, but point it to your existing Linux profile at /home/USERNAME/.mozilla/firefox/RANDOMFILENAME.default

      This means you'll have the same set of bookmarks, browsing history, tabs, etc... whether you're in Windows or Linux.

      You can use the same trick with your email if you use Thunderbird for both Windows and Linux. Set it up under linux, then use thunderbird.exe -profilemanager

      --
      Redundancy is good And also good.
    77. Re:So much service! by PitaBred · · Score: 1

      Well, if he wants to beat his head against the wall with another distro, so be it. That's what's great about Linux.

      Ubuntu is specifically designed to be accessible and automatic, yet still have all the Linux bits. I can do everything on Ubuntu that I want to, and the joyous part is that 99% of the time, I don't HAVE to unless I want to.

    78. Re:So much service! by MrNiceguy_KS · · Score: 1

      I agree, except it makes me type my password everytime I access a ntfs so I still avoid it.

      That's interesting - I've never had this happen. Is it asking for the Ubuntu password or the Windows password?

      --
      Redundancy is good And also good.
    79. Re:So much service! by pizpot · · Score: 1

      ubuntu password

    80. Re:So much service! by pizpot · · Score: 1

      mostly because it did not tell me that upfront and i had no idea.

    81. Re:So much service! by pizpot · · Score: 1

      with ubuntu, if it doesn't just work, good luck. in otherwords, if it is a hp pavillion good luck.

    82. Re:So much service! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, I'm sure the Ubuntu development team is going to lose sleep over some flaming lunatic.

      He's not wrong, you know. Ubuntu is great for being usable by nearly anyone, but it loses points with hackers: you can barely compile your own kernel, let alone compile userland software.
    83. Re:So much service! by node+3 · · Score: 1
      I've used Vista on multiple computers. When it works, it works great (although often annoying, but aside from UAC, I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt here). When it doesn't work, it's absolutely *horrible*.

      If you genuinely think that Windows Vista is the worst OS ever (and you've actually used it, and aren't just parroting the groupthink), you should just be thankful you've never been exposed to worse ones. That's all. No one said it was the worst OS ever. By misrepresenting the argument of others, you're doing worse than "just parroting groupthink".

      The post you were replying to read, "When will Microsoft simply get the fact that a flashy desktop DOES NOT COMPENSATE FOR A SHITTY OS." [emphasis his]
    84. Re:So much service! by pebs · · Score: 1

      I haven't been able to get this to work. The big problem is that VMware provides a somewhat different set of hardware than your system really has.

      Maybe I am wrong about it being possible in Linux, I can't seem to find any reports of it now, though I thought I read somewhere it is possible.

      But they've managed to do it with VMWare Fusion. With VMWare Fusion, if you have Windows installed via Boot Camp you can run it under VMWare. I don't know how they managed to pull that off. Maybe its easier because there are less hardware configurations to worry about on the Mac, and they managed to fool Windows into thinking its running same hardware as the host machine it runs on. I don't know if Apple did anything special in the drivers included in Boot Camp.

      --
      #!/
    85. Re:So much service! by darkhalcon · · Score: 1

      I've helped people fix slow, and unresponsive Vista systems. I can say with confidence it is as bad as people think. When general computer users tell you they're afraid to upgrade because all new machines ship with Vista there is a problem

    86. Re:So much service! by Salsaman · · Score: 1

      20 GB seems a bit large for a linux root. I generally partition an 8 GB root, and rarely do I actually use over 4GB of this. This would allow you an extra 12GB for windows data.

      512MB for swap is quite low. Someday you might want to add more memory, so 4GB here (2 X max memory) would be better.

      [Linux user since 1998]

    87. Re:So much service! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're using one of the release candidate versions. The final version went RTM yesterday.

    88. Re:So much service! by piers_downunder · · Score: 1

      My late 2006 model Acer Aspire laptop came with FAT32 preinstalled, and rather than screw around reformatting as NTFS and reinstalling all the drivers, I stuck it out with FAT32. In this brief time my experience has been:

      PROS
      Better support by repartitioning software (NTFS can be stubborn at shrinking)

      CONS
      Can't run MSN Sharing Folders
      Can't install PostgreSQL
      BSOD = Lost data

    89. Re:So much service! by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      You'll have to create that 60GB FAT32 partition with Linux
      A windows 98 emergency startup disk should do it fine, there are also third party utilities for windows that can format such partitions (though that isn't any use for the boot partition)

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
    90. Re:So much service! by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      I would think of 2x memory as a guideline for the maxium swap you are likely to be able to fill up before things slow to a crawl. That doesn't mean you need that much swap in regular use.

      And linux is quite happy to swap to files so it's easy to add more swap in a hurry if you need it for a specific task.

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
    91. Re:So much service! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I am guessing that he is using an older version of ghost that cannot handle NTFS.

  8. Can't WAIT! by Poohsticks · · Score: 1

    I have to build machines occasionally and I haven't slipstreamed all the hotfixes into my WinXP cd - so just to be able to install it without having to download 70 patches and reboot forever... PRICELESS!

    --
    "The story so far: In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been wide
  9. Vista style activation by symbolset · · Score: 2, Funny

    So if you paid full retail thinking you could drag XP with you when you upgrade your system...

    You're stuck. Kaching. Thanks for playing.

    --
    Help stamp out iliturcy.
    1. Re:Vista style activation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      I like

      wait till "early summer" to enable SP3 downloads through Automatic Updates
      People still use that "service"?
    2. Re:Vista style activation by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      Where did you get the idea XP was going to be using vista style activation?

      Afaict activation will be the same as before with the one exception that you can install first and enter the product key later if you wish. Of course WGA will be mandatory which may be a problem if you are breaking the rules.

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
    3. Re:Vista style activation by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      I generally keep it set to download automatically but ask me before installing.

      but if it was a machine I wasn't going to be keeping an eye on, I knew the user didn't have the techical know-how to make reasonable choices on updates and I was sure it was a fully legit copy I would probablly put it on full auto.

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
  10. RTM kinda by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    MSDN/Technet - Not yet. This will be available within the next month. X_x
  11. Here's a possible link... by Adam+Zweimiller · · Score: 2, Interesting
    --
    mmm...muffins
    1. Re:Here's a possible link... by Adam+Zweimiller · · Score: 1
      --
      mmm...muffins
    2. Re:Here's a possible link... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      Incorrect...

      XP SP3 (RTM) Has the Build Number 5512.

  12. April Fools Joke? by naer_dinsul · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Is the fact that this was posted on April 1st a bad thing?

    1. Re:April Fools Joke? by edugeek-au · · Score: 1

      You might wanna check your dates? :)

    2. Re:April Fools Joke? by naer_dinsul · · Score: 1

      From TFA:

      Quick Details
      Version: 1
      Date Published: 4/1/2008
      Language: English
      Download Size: 428 KB - 1.0 MB

    3. Re:April Fools Joke? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Microsoft also released Windows Mobile 6.1 on April first... And that was legit.

  13. So the bad guys will have MONTHS. by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It will be available to OEMs and enterprise customers on April 29. ... The company will wait till "early summer" to enable SP3 downloads through Automatic Updates.

    So the bad guys, who can automatically generate exploits from updates in minutes will have MONTHS to generate and deploy their malware.

    Good job, Microsoft!

    --
    Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
    1. Re:So the bad guys will have MONTHS. by edugeek-au · · Score: 5, Informative

      Windows XP SP3 - detailed by channel schedule
      Channel / Release Vector
      Planned dates (US)


      RTM (release to manufacturing) - Apr-21
      OEM Channel - Apr-21
      Windows Update - Apr-29
      Download Centre - Apr-29
      MSDN/Technet Download - May-02
      Windows XP SP3 Fulfillment Media - May-19
      VL Customers via download - Jun-01
      Automatic Updates - Jun-10

    2. Re:So the bad guys will have MONTHS. by MarkLR · · Score: 4, Informative

      SP3 is not a bug fix but rather a rollup of previous fixes that users should already have and a few new features - mostly related to networking. There is no "patch" to exploit.

    3. Re:So the bad guys will have MONTHS. by fyrewulff · · Score: 5, Informative

      Uh, SPs are just packaged updates since the last major release. XP SP2 was the exception this time around. You already have most of SP3, if not all of it, if you've been staying up to date.

      The most notable new feature of SP3 is that it allows more CD keys to be entered into it, since they are extremely close or have run out of new ones to print that XP, XP SP1 and XP SP2 will recognize.

      The SP3 via automatic updates seems to mean to me that they are waiting that long to have a special SP3 download (like the massive 300MB or so SP2 offline installer)

      --
      "We need to get over this notion, that, for Apple to win... Microsoft must lose." - Steve Jobs, 1997
    4. Re:So the bad guys will have MONTHS. by afidel · · Score: 5, Insightful

      WTF? Why do MSDN and VL customers get this later than Windows Update? What exactly are we paying for?

      --
      There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
    5. Re:So the bad guys will have MONTHS. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      WTF? Why do MSDN and VL customers get this later than Windows Update? What exactly are we paying for? For staying out of troubles.
    6. Re:So the bad guys will have MONTHS. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      WTF? Why do MSDN and VL customers get this later than Windows Update? What exactly are we paying for? Testing. ;)
    7. Re:So the bad guys will have MONTHS. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wait, you thought you pay Micro$oft for *not* getting ripped off? ;)

    8. Re:So the bad guys will have MONTHS. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      if you have to ask such questions, why on earth would you pay...

      wait, I think John Oliver said it best on the standup he just did about the inflatable barbeque grill.

    9. Re:So the bad guys will have MONTHS. by the_humeister · · Score: 1

      The REAL update...

    10. Re:So the bad guys will have MONTHS. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Paying? Aaahahahahaa ha ha hah ahaha!

    11. Re:So the bad guys will have MONTHS. by das_magpie · · Score: 1

      I beleive you are paying for a pathetic product. Good point though.

    12. Re:So the bad guys will have MONTHS. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      WTF? Why do MSDN and VL customers get this later than Windows Update? What exactly are we paying for?/
      Testing. ;)

      Alpha testing.

      /fixed that for you

    13. Re:So the bad guys will have MONTHS. by GIL_Dude · · Score: 2, Informative

      Because they are different things. The earlier dates are for update.exe (or whatever it is called now). The other is for a pre-built VL slipstream ISO image download.

    14. Re:So the bad guys will have MONTHS. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're paying for the unwashed masses to test it.

    15. Re:So the bad guys will have MONTHS. by afidel · · Score: 1

      I can slipstream the OEM disk with SP3 in about 30 seconds on the same type of storage MS uses in their labs (Xiotech), why does it take them months to provide a freaking ISO?

      --
      There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
    16. Re:So the bad guys will have MONTHS. by QuantumRiff · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Your missing one of the best reasons for SP3. I just installed a fresh copy of XPSP2 on a new model of computer to get the images ready. 110 MS patches later, it was caught up! Thank god for Windows Software Update Services or I would have had to download them all from Microsoft. Would have taken all day!

      --

      What are we going to do tonight Brain?
    17. Re:So the bad guys will have MONTHS. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Someone's got to do the beta testing - why not make it the same plebs that beta tested Vista for 'em?

    18. Re:So the bad guys will have MONTHS. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "You already have most of SP3, if not all of it, if you've been staying up to date."

      This is false. Microsoft releases a minority of the patches it produces for Windows on Windows Update, the rest are rolled up into service packs. Releasing a patch on Windows Update is a big deal compared to including a patch in a service pack.

      There are probably hundreds more fixes in SP3 than SP2.

    19. Re:So the bad guys will have MONTHS. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Checked builds with symbols for debugging?

      Seriously, stop moaning. If you don't like it, cancel your subscription and develop for another platform.

    20. Re:So the bad guys will have MONTHS. by necrogram · · Score: 1

      you're under the assumption that the updates in SP3 are not available anywhere else. Thanks for playing

  14. WGA? by ArchieBunker · · Score: 1

    Will it need WGA to install?

    --
    Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    1. Re:WGA? by i.of.the.storm · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Considering SP2 did (IIRC) I would assume so.

      --
      All your base are belong to Wii.
    2. Re:WGA? by i.of.the.storm · · Score: 1

      Hmm, someone further down said it doesn't, so I take that back.

      --
      All your base are belong to Wii.
    3. Re:WGA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Apparently not.
      Test installed on a fresh XP Pro w/ bare SP2 and no WGA took about 30 minutes from download to finish. Seems quicker on start/shutdown. Had to re-disable Security Center, other than that no probs so far.

      SP2/RC2
      WindowsXP-KB936929-SP3-x86-ENU.exe. 315MB download
      Loaded on:
      Asus M2A-VM mobo
      Athlon x2 4800+
      4gb DDR/800

    4. Re:WGA? by mea_culpa · · Score: 1

      The white paper says no changes were made to how activation works, other than the SP3 media will allow installation without a key, similar to Vista. WGA warnings about activation will occur after installation, at which time a key can be entered in the activation window.

      Should make installing a little easier, but I'm not sure what the point of it will be. The large OEM's already worked around this years ago. With EOL in just a couple of months it's not like I'll be able to pick up an oem copy of this at Newegg when I sell myself a new computer.

      Perhaps smaller VL users that don't already make their own installation image will find this useful.

    5. Re:WGA? by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      was it a key that would have failed a wga check?

      My understanding is that wga comes in two forms. The checker which is needed before it will let you install certain stuff (windows steadystate) and the notifications program which nags you if your system is not "genuine"

      My understanding is that sp3 includes the latter.

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
    6. Re:WGA? by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      The people I see this being usefull for is those who want to image thier machines but don't have a volume license.

      Install XP, make image, put image on machines then enter keys and activate. Avoids the risk of accidently activating the wrong key on a machine which may potentially cause problems later.

      btw according to MS system builder packs will continue to be availible until next january.

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
  15. Added "Features" by Shikaku · · Score: 5, Informative

    Windows XP SP3 also includes a small list of previously unavailable functionality, including NAP and an update of Windows Product Activation. I love the term "functionality" because it reminds me of the DRM things in Vista. Anyway, here's what they are adding besides all previous fixes:

    "Black Hole" Router Detection Windows XP SP3 includes improvements to black hole router detection (detecting routers that are silently discarding packets), turning it on by default. Seems nice

    Network Access Protection (NAP) More for enterprise/admins. See http://www.microsoft.com/technet/network/nap/napfaq.mspx.

    Descriptive Security Options User Interface The Security Options control panel in Windows XP SP3 now has more descriptive text to explain settings and prevent incorrect settings configuration. Figure 1 shows an example of this new functionality. Cool I guess.

    Enhanced security for Administrator and Service policy entries In System Center Essentials for Windows XP SP3, Administrator and Service entries will be present by default on any new instance of policy. Additionally, the user interface for the Impersonate Client After Authentication user right will not be able to remove these settings. More admin stuff. I'll skip some of it from the PDF

    Windows Product Activation As in Windows Server 2003 SP2 and Windows Vista, users can now complete operating system installation without providing a product key during a full, integrated installation of Windows XP SP3. The operating system will prompt the user for a product key later as part of Genuine Advantage. As with previous service packs, no product key is requested or required when installing Windows XP SP3 using the update package available through Microsoft Update. Note The Windows Product Activation changes in Windows XP SP3 are not related to the Windows Vista Key Management Service (KMS). This update affects only new operating system installations from integrated source media. This update affects the installation media only and is not a change to how activation works in Windows XP. I'm not so sure about this though. WPA update... I wonder what Microsoft is sneak in on this.
    1. Re:Added "Features" by Fluffeh · · Score: 1

      If it smells bad, chances are it is.

      --
      Moved to http://soylentnews.org/. You are invited to join us too!
    2. Re:Added "Features" by CannonballHead · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Unless it smells bad simply by association. "It's from MS, it must smell bad, therefore it must have something sneaky." Not necessarily good logic.

    3. Re:Added "Features" by The+Second+Horseman · · Score: 2, Informative

      The product activation upgrade doesn't have any effect on patching existing systems - it's for slipstreamed media. Basically adds the feature to add the license key and activate (WGA) after installation instead of being prompted for it in the middle of the installation. They're not backporting the whole Vista activation / KMS / etc scheme to XP. If they did, their corporate customers would go nuts. Nobody wants to have to re-engineer XP deployment techniques at this point. And a bunch of corporate customers will be using XP for a while.

    4. Re:Added "Features" by Tranzistors · · Score: 2, Funny

      Translation:
      Fluffeh: It might be bad.
      CannonballHead: It might not be bad.

      Apart from apparent lack of any information, I doubt incomplete fuzzy logic is necessary bad logic.

    5. Re:Added "Features" by RoboRay · · Score: 1

      Not necessarily bad logic, either.

    6. Re:Added "Features" by Fluffeh · · Score: 1

      Looking at the "features list" it doesn't appear that there is a huge amount that people want but certainly an install that Microsoft wants people to have.

      If you put all the people it benefits on one side of a scale and dropped all the people it didn't benefit on the other side of the scale, I wonder what side would be heavier.

      My point is really this: Who will benefit most from the XP SP3 pack? Users or Microsoft?

      --
      Moved to http://soylentnews.org/. You are invited to join us too!
    7. Re:Added "Features" by CannonballHead · · Score: 1

      Ah, but we were speaking of two different ideas. He said that it DOES smell bad, therefore probably is bad; I said that it doesn't necessarily smell bad. I was attacking his premise, not his conclusion.

    8. Re:Added "Features" by LittleGuy · · Score: 1

      I remember when Win2000 SP2 came out and we deployed it just before a weekend, only to discover the "Added Features"* of BITS and Automatic Update (we're a closed shop), so we had to come in that weekend and disable *manually* the two services on all machines.

      * Through Slashdot, I might add. We'll let, um, others 'discover' the new features.

      --
      Mod Karma -1: I sed bad wurds. If I cep my mouf shut, I wud be at riyses.
    9. Re:Added "Features" by Avatar8 · · Score: 1
      You forgot my favorite parts of the SP description.

      Microsoft is not adding significant Windows Vista functionality to Windows XP through SP3.
      Thank God. There is one big reason that nearly all the IT and gaming people I know are still on XP: it is Vista.

      And...

      Further, Windows XP SP3 does not include Windows Internet Explorer 7.
      No reason to slow down a perfectly good browser like Firefox, Opera, Safari or even IE6.
  16. Nice work there Lou^h^h^hBill by Linker3000 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Overview of Windows XP Service Pack 3.pdf - 428 KB Download
    Overview of Windows XP Service Pack 3.xps - 634 KB Download

    --
    AT&ROFLMAO
    1. Re:Nice work there Lou^h^h^hBill by KingOfBLASH · · Score: 0, Troll

      How are they supposed to keep competitors from using their standards if their standards create reasonable sized files that stick to the spec AND are an improvement over existing file types?

  17. Direct X 10 by Satanboy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Still no directX 10.

    But at least I got some patches!

    1. Re:Direct X 10 by Kjella · · Score: 1

      Still no directX 10.

      But at least I got some patches! If you bought your XP license in 2001 then you've gotten seven years of patching plus several big features like the SP2 firewall that you didn't originally buy. How terrible that they should make a major new feature only available in their latest OS. If Vista didn't suck, you'd have no reason to complain...
      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    2. Re:Direct X 10 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Same old crap from the same type of people, how many times does it need to be said? DIRECTX 10 IS NOT COMPATIBLE WITH WINDOWS XP!

    3. Re:Direct X 10 by ShadowsHawk · · Score: 1

      They're trying to use DX10 to force people to 'upgrade' to a shitty OS. Yup, we have plenty reason to complain.

    4. Re:Direct X 10 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Talking about crap ... saying it again and again only proves that you don't know what you're talking about.

      Not compatible, eh? Only through deliberate design decisions with that as a specific goal. If Microsoft would have wanted to make DX10 compatible with XP, they could have. The didn't want to, so they didn't. You spewing crap doesn't change the circumstances.

      *sigh*

  18. For those of us in New Zealand... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... does "early summer" mean we have to wait until next March?

    1. Re:For those of us in New Zealand... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      nope, early summer would probably be December wouldn't it?

      Unless you're in Dunedin?

    2. Re:For those of us in New Zealand... by Frizzle+Fry · · Score: 1

      That's what "early summer" always means coming from Microsoft.

      --
      I'd rather be lucky than good.
  19. MS: "Our customers are our beta testers." by Futurepower(R) · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Don't get too excited. Remember the Microsoft motto: "Our customers are our beta testers." Remember that Microsoft is the Chief of Grief -- Let someone else have the pain. Wait until the bugs are found; SP3 version 3 may be the one you want.

    Windows XP was first released in 2001. Windows XP created severe problems for us until SP2 was released in 2004.

    So, Windows XP gave us 3 years of misery and 3 years of relative usefulness, but with extreme vulnerability to malware. And now Microsoft has declared the death of Windows XP in June 2008.

    Is it any wonder why people don't want Windows Vista?

    An indication of the hassle people had with downloading 3 years of updates is this quote from Paul Thurrott, who is over-the-top pro-Microsoft, and who often apologizes for Microsoft's abusiveness in a way that tries to make abusive behavior sound less destructive: ... the 100+ updates that Microsoft has shipped since SP2 can be a nightmare to deploy.

    My opinion is that Microsoft is very badly managed. Windows XP gave us 50% big hassles and 50% mild hassles. Do you want to partner with a company that has so frequently abused you in the past?

    1. Re:MS: "Our customers are our beta testers." by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Windows 2000 was the last even slightly useful OS released from MS. As of XP with the activation shit all you get is trouble. I'm a developer and constantly change hardware configs or reinstall. The activation crap pisses me off to no end. I hate having to call Microsoft just because I added a stick of RAM or had to replace a dead hard-drive. Fucking bastards.

    2. Re:MS: "Our customers are our beta testers." by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "XP with the activation shit"

      A certain keygen will generate the telephone activation code for free.

    3. Re:MS: "Our customers are our beta testers." by bigstrat2003 · · Score: 3, Informative

      Windows XP was first released in 2001. Windows XP created severe problems for us until SP2 was released in 2004. Unless you have something highly specific in mind, I call bullshit. I used XP SP1 for forever (SP2 broke all my games which used the Quake 3 engine, which was a good few at the time, for about six months to a year after it came out), and never had a single problem with it. I didn't use SP0, but XP SP1 was a damn good OS.
      --
      "16MB (fuck off, MiB fascists)" - The Mighty Buzzard
    4. Re:MS: "Our customers are our beta testers." by rtb61 · · Score: 1
      Not to forget the thousands of troll postings that are also released at the same time, this M$ release was great, I didn't have any problems, it installed properly and worked perfectly and improved security, stability and performance. All those people who are complaining have configured their computers incorrectly (it is always the customers fault) or/and the hardware manufacturers have failed to properly update their drivers as directed (why is it driver problems on Linux are Linux's fault and driver problems on windows are the hardware manufacturers fault, just ask any micro-softie) or/and it is the fault of some other software installed on the system (strangely enough often a competitor in some particular product area that M$ currently wants to expand into).

      The biggest worry of course is the perceived reputation of M$ in that the last support pack often introduces more problems than it solves in order to force people to upgrade to their latest (P)OS, and with the problems M$ have been having with acceptance of astalavista, a lot of people are going to be real cautious and wait six months or so.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    5. Re:MS: "Our customers are our beta testers." by toddestan · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I don't get that either. SP2 broke all kinds of things, for that reason I still use XP SP1 on one of my machines. I don't have any issues with the machine at all, and it's perfectly stable. Though if you are already on SP2, you can probably move to SP3 pretty safely as it appears there aren't any huge changes in this release.

    6. Re:MS: "Our customers are our beta testers." by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That is why you use an enterprise key for your install.

    7. Re:MS: "Our customers are our beta testers." by techno-vampire · · Score: 1

      The only trouble with using an enterprise key is that I'm always afraid I'm going to find out too late that I've been given a red shirt.

      --
      Good, inexpensive web hosting
    8. Re:MS: "Our customers are our beta testers." by rubenerd · · Score: 1

      And of course therefore if you yourself never had a single problem with it, then nobody else did.

      Windows XP SP1 was not "a damn good OS" (nor any version of Windows for that matter, but leaving that aside). If it was, there would have been no need for SP2.

      --
      Cheers, ~ Ruben
    9. Re:MS: "Our customers are our beta testers." by bigstrat2003 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      And of course therefore if you yourself never had a single problem with it, then nobody else did. No, it's highly likely that if I, in my rather typical computer use, didn't have any problems, that either this guy's problem is a) highly specific, and not representative of the quality of the OS, or b) made up.

      Windows XP SP1 was not "a damn good OS" (nor any version of Windows for that matter, but leaving that aside). If it was, there would have been no need for SP2. Well, every version of Windows since 2000 has been a damn good OS, but leaving that aside... your logic is laughable. The fact that an OS needs updates makes it poor? Well, guess that makes every OS bad, by your standards. "Perfect the first time" is a highly unreasonable standard.
      --
      "16MB (fuck off, MiB fascists)" - The Mighty Buzzard
    10. Re:MS: "Our customers are our beta testers." by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That was not nearly enough sarcasm. Please try again.

    11. Re:MS: "Our customers are our beta testers." by darkpixel2k · · Score: 1

      Windows 2000 was the last even slightly useful OS released from MS. As of XP with the activation shit all you get is trouble. I'm a developer and constantly change hardware configs or reinstall. The activation crap pisses me off to no end. I hate having to call Microsoft just because I added a stick of RAM or had to replace a dead hard-drive. Fucking bastards.

      <smarmy-microsoft-voice>But that's exactly why we invented eOpen licenses. With our enterprise volume open software assurance licenses you can't get a copy of XP that won't require you to constantly reactivate because you plugged in a new type of USB mouse. Simply buy 5 (yeah--you heard us--*FIVE*) copies of Windows XP under our eOpen license with Software Assurance (and pay us for new copies every 3 years) and you won't be required to constantly reactive. Hell--as an added bonus, we won't require you to remember which product key goes with which CD set. You'll only need one.</smarmy-microsoft-voice>

      I love it when Microsoft is fucking you in the ass all the while saying "it's not that bad--we're giving you a discount".

      --
      There's no place like ::1 (I've completed my transition to IPv6)
    12. Re:MS: "Our customers are our beta testers." by L0rdJedi · · Score: 1

      An indication of the hassle people had with downloading 3 years of updates is this quote from Paul Thurrott, who is over-the-top pro-Microsoft, and who often apologizes for Microsoft's abusiveness in a way that tries to make abusive behavior sound less destructive: ... the 100+ updates that Microsoft has shipped since SP2 can be a nightmare to deploy. [winsupersite.com]

      Sure, if you're dumb enough to not have an update server deployed already. Or, for home users, if you're dumb enough to not just download all the updates as they became available and store them in a directory. After a reinstall, it's a simple matter of running all the updates again or letting your update server take care of it.

    13. Re:MS: "Our customers are our beta testers." by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      What - your posting on /. about an OS, and you couldn't even get games to work on XPsp2? Cut me a break. The amount of FUD here is rediculous, especially comments like this. If SP2 broke your quake engine games, it was more likely pebkac, or some display driver rev... cause guess what... it worked fine for the rest of us who are capable of using a computer and reinstalling an OS...

    14. Re:MS: "Our customers are our beta testers." by L0rdJedi · · Score: 1

      Except that the only thing that requires reactivation is a new motherboard. Adding RAM won't cause a reactivation. Replacing a dead hard drive might if you end up having to reinstall.

      Why, as a developer, aren't you on MSDN? Then you'd get copies of all MS products with volume license keys that don't need activation.

    15. Re:MS: "Our customers are our beta testers." by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The amount of FUD here is rediculous, especially comments like this. I disagree.

      It's more like a shade of green.

    16. Re:MS: "Our customers are our beta testers." by cephah · · Score: 1

      Not to mention that patches and updates for an OS are a natural step when new technologies are constantly being developed, e.g. USB 2.0.

    17. Re:MS: "Our customers are our beta testers." by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >Why, as a developer, aren't you on MSDN?

      You must be new here. The answer to that question is: "Because that would cost money".

    18. Re:MS: "Our customers are our beta testers." by X3J11 · · Score: 1

      I agree with bigstrat here, more or less.

      Well, every version of Windows since 2000 has been a damn good OS...

      ... when compared to Microsoft's previous operating systems.

      2000 and onwards indeed have been quite a bit better than the much maligned Windows ME, and 98SE. It's all relative.

      Personally, I think that Linux is better than Windows for many tasks. Unfortunately, my choice of software (I'm a gamer) requires that I run Windows. With the proper tweaking and trimming of the fat, XP runs quite nice for me, and rarely barfs on the things I throw at it.

    19. Re:MS: "Our customers are our beta testers." by dreamchaser · · Score: 1

      By your logic there has been no 'damn good' version of Mac OS X either then. They have updated it numerous times and still issue updates/patches.

      Disclaimer: I think OS X *is* a damn good OS. I was just pointing out the bad logic in the parent. If Mac OS X is so good, why did they need Leopard? If Leopard IS 'damn good' then I suppose that means there will never be another point release of OS X?

    20. Re:MS: "Our customers are our beta testers." by b0bby · · Score: 1

      Well, every version of Windows since 2000 has been a damn good OS...

         

      ... when compared to Microsoft's previous operating systems.

      When 2000 came out, it was a damn good os compared to everything else available. OS9 was as big a pile as 98 was, desktop Linux was weak (I remember, I would try the latest every 6 months & go back to Windows). I don't think there was a better general purpose OS out there when 2000 came out. I still use it as my main home pc, and it still does everything I want it to in a stable manner.
    21. Re:MS: "Our customers are our beta testers." by Yewbert · · Score: 1

      I do, among other things, support for a large (three digits) number of XP Pro workstations. With every patch that's come out lately (since about last October or so), I have to keep an eye out for some obscure security setting tightening down and hosing some obscure routine in some crappy vendor application.

      Most useful/effective fix: Select C:\Windows and/or C:\Program Files\[Crappy vendor app program directory], get Properties | Security, create a new "Everyone" entry, and grant Everyone "Full Control" privileges.

      *sigh*

      Yes, stoopid, epically so, but sometimes that's the only sure-fire way to get that crappy vendor app to work again.

    22. Re:MS: "Our customers are our beta testers." by operagost · · Score: 1

      What are you talking about? XP mainstream support doesn't end until April 2009. The release of what may be the last service pack doesn't "declare the death" of the platform; their support lifecycle policy does, which is clearly spelled out here.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    23. Re:MS: "Our customers are our beta testers." by ohtani · · Score: 1

      The problem wasn't mostly SP2. It was more the CHANGES in SP2 that other applications and drivers were not ready for. Once they were worked out, everything was fine. If you were "first in line" with SP2, then yes you probably experienced problems.

      --
      Pancakes. Oh I blew it.
    24. Re:MS: "Our customers are our beta testers." by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      XP required me to reactivate with zero hardware changes. Yes, zero changes.

      I simply upgraded my motherboard drivers, which required uninstall old drivers (activation request one, which I didn't do) and driver reinstall (activation two, which I was eventually forced to do).

      So what were you saying again about activation requiring major upgrade?

    25. Re:MS: "Our customers are our beta testers." by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      lsp/spi.

      For some people, anything pre-SP2 is unusable.

    26. Re:MS: "Our customers are our beta testers." by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      Afaict if you have an individual subscription (not under a volume license agreement) you don't get the VLK version of XP.

      and from vista onwards every version needs activation unless you have a KMS server (which needs a KMS key and needs more than a certain number of clients before it starts working).

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
    27. Re:MS: "Our customers are our beta testers." by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Allow me to _cowardly_ disagree...

      > Windows XP was first released in 2001. Windows XP created severe problems
      > for us until SP2 was released in 2004.

      I've yet to have a negative experience with XP and perhaps one BSOD per year at most, with very heavy use.

      > So, Windows XP gave us 3 years of misery and 3 years of relative usefulness,
      > but with extreme vulnerability to malware. And now Microsoft has declared
      > the death of Windows XP in June 2008.

      Most of the vulnerability was stupid users running as admin. But, shame and blame may rightfully be placed on MS for running users as admin by default. Please also smack all the idiot developers that forced us run their apps as admin, just to use them.

      > Is it any wonder why people don't want Windows Vista?

      With all the third parties that didn't give us solid drivers and the officious UAC, no. It's not a compelling upgrade from XP yet. I waited until SP1 with good reason.

      > abusive behavior sound less destructive: ... the 100+ updates that Microsoft
      > has shipped since SP2 can be a nightmare to deploy.

      Depends on how well you do your job. I'd rather have the patches than not.

      > My opinion is that Microsoft is very badly managed. Windows XP gave us 50%
      > big hassles and 50% mild hassles. Do you want to partner with a company that
      > has so frequently abused you in the past?

      They do some things very badly, they do others quite well. You'll likely disagree, but their market dominance is still indisputable. That said, whether they'll still exist in any significant way in 10 years remains to be seen. The IT landscape changes pretty fast.

    28. Re:MS: "Our customers are our beta testers." by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      Except that the only thing that requires reactivation is a new motherboard.
      Assuming you are talking about retail or whitebox OEM (big brand OEM uses a completely different system) it is a tally of various hardware components.

      It is possible to go over the limit without replacing the motherboard, especially if the motherboad doesn't have a built in lan port (or it has one but it's disabled).

      BTW I would strongly reccomend backing up your activation data so a clean reinstall does not mean needing to reactivate. Afaict when you reactivate with any hardware (or possiblly even driver) changes at all MS can't tell the difference between that and trying to activate on completely different hardware.

      http://www.windowsnetworking.com/kbase/WindowsTips/WindowsNT/UserTips/Miscellaneous/BackupRestoreXPActivation.html

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
  20. Six months then. by downundarob · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Early Summer!

    So somewhere around December then?

    1. Re:Six months then. by Jaseoldboss · · Score: 1

      I would have modded this insightful rather than funny, based on his user name.

  21. Update Rollups every 6 months please! by ScottCooperDotNet · · Score: 4, Insightful
    As someone who's had to build many a Windows XP system since SP2 came out, it would be very handy if Microsoft offered a single file (similar to Windows 2000's Update Rollup) that has all patches since the last service pack. It would save me (or my company) time, and would save Microsoft on bandwidth.

    I'm aware there are third party ways to update fresh builds of XP in a more straightforward fashion (or integrate the updates in to the install disc), but where is mighty Microsoft on this? Where is the value here?

    1. Re:Update Rollups every 6 months please! by EXMSFT · · Score: 2, Informative

      You're really installing Windows via winnt32 every time? You should just use Sysprep and keep your image up to date...

    2. Re:Update Rollups every 6 months please! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      I'm aware there are third party ways to update fresh builds of XP in a more straightforward fashion (or integrate the updates in to the install disc), but where is mighty Microsoft on this? Where is the value here?

      Ummm, you don't need a third-party tool, microsoft provides lots of information on how to slipstream patches into xp before you install. This documentation has been available for years, and it is the same technique as win2000 and win2003 (dunno about vista).

      You can also script your install (search google for winnt.sif or unattend.txt) so you just turn on the system and come back in 30 minutes with everything installed the way you like it. Go look at www.msfn.org.

    3. Re:Update Rollups every 6 months please! by Joe+The+Dragon · · Score: 1

      you should be useing WSUS to cut down on update bandwidth needs.

    4. Re:Update Rollups every 6 months please! by pete-classic · · Score: 1

      This is a bizarre point of view. Why should some poor bastard in every IT department have to maintain his own homebrew image of XP?

      Also, why does it take five reboots to get up to date? Every Linux distro I've used in recent memory can do it in one go.

      -Peter

    5. Re:Update Rollups every 6 months please! by Macfox · · Score: 2, Informative

      Ah sysprep vs winnt32...Don't forget the good old HAL issues, where you need 3 or 4 images to cover all architectures and MS refuses to support switching of HAL with one image, even though it's possible.

      Seriously... You should look at BDD with SMS. It uses a combo of winnt32 to setup your images and the create per architecture sysprep images.

      --
      Area51 - We are watching...
    6. Re:Update Rollups every 6 months please! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Vista's update slipstreaming is exactly like Office 07, and that's a really, really, REALLY good thing. To update your Windows Vista image, you simply dump the MSI installers in the UPGRADE directory in the image, then burn back out to the disk. Vista does the rest during install, apparently.

      I've tested the system with Office 07 Service Pack 1, it works perfectly. Not sure about Vista, but I'd bet it's one of the few features that works well. Takes all the pain right out of what XP required for slipstream.

    7. Re:Update Rollups every 6 months please! by techno-vampire · · Score: 1

      When my sister installed Ubuntu, it took two: one for the original install and another after it downloaded and installed the proprietary nVidia drivers. Of course, that's a special case; the norm is, as you said, just once.

      --
      Good, inexpensive web hosting
    8. Re:Update Rollups every 6 months please! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ROTFL. A Windows install, in under 30 minutes?

    9. Re:Update Rollups every 6 months please! by rdebath · · Score: 1

      Microsoft hotfixes 'slipstreamed' into XP. HA HA HA HA HA ... cries.

      Have you ever tried it? Most people would call it hacking the installer!

      Textmode disk drivers are even worse! F6 or winnt.sif. If you try to use F6 while running winnt.sif it works perfectly. At first, it just falls over ten minutes later!!!

      Want to add the drivers to the CD, OEMPNP directory perhaps? Nope back to hacking the installer of course.

      AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHH!!!!

    10. Re:Update Rollups every 6 months please! by 03Cobra · · Score: 2, Informative

      You've been wasting a lot of time. Microsoft has their own product for managing their own images. It's called Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT). You can use it to deploy/update XP, Vista, 2003 Server, and Server 08. It stores the files in a .wim format. It's pretty neat, as it uses a write once type database so you can have multiple images in 1 wim to save on space.

      At work we use a single image to manage over 200 different computer models that can be deployed in a myriad of ways such as LiteTouch methodology which you can use either Microsoft s Deployment Server to push via PXE boot or just the good old fashion thumb drive. Or you can use the ZeroTouch methodology and use SMS to update/deploy systems without any interaction (Good for kiosk type systems).

      In a nutshell, MDT takes all the best practices for deployment (Litetouch, ZeroTouch, Automatic driver injection, user state migration, etc.) and rolls it into one application.

    11. Re:Update Rollups every 6 months please! by zukinux · · Score: 0

      Infact, It's already in that form (at least for the beta). Which means, you cannot (currently) install SP3 straight, but you need to install SP1 or SP2 first. Which means the SP3 is in its current form, an update to SP1/2. (That's how it is in the beta)

    12. Re:Update Rollups every 6 months please! by Fweeky · · Score: 1

      Why does installing the nvidia driver need a reboot? Just install the module, modprobe, restart X, surely? Even upgrades shouldn't need a reboot; you just close X, rmmod the old driver and insert the new one. Is that too awkward to make a .deb do automagically?

    13. Re:Update Rollups every 6 months please! by techno-vampire · · Score: 1

      Probably log out, log in would have been enough, but Ubuntu said it wanted a restart.

      --
      Good, inexpensive web hosting
    14. Re:Update Rollups every 6 months please! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The fact remains: why on Earth can't mighty Microsoft do something so simple that it takes an average sysadmin 30 minutes to do? Why the heck not release a whopping mass of patches in one bundle that can be downloaded once and deployed many times?

      The answer is simple: WGA and the associated kool-aid is more important to Microsoft than what their customers want.

      It used to exist thanks to third parties (Autopatcher) until Microsoft said they didn't want it to be distributed anymore.

    15. Re:Update Rollups every 6 months please! by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      apparently that method doesn't work for SP1, someone found a method that did but it was quite a pain.

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
  22. how long till i can get it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    come on piratebay, it should already be out there!

  23. SP3 end of April - XP end of life in June? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The whole OS is supposedly going to be withdrawn from the channel at the end of June. That's not a lot of time for customers to experience Clippy's Girlfriend Alexa, or whatever doodads they put in there.

    Unless, of course, the end of life in June story from Redmond is as bogus as the house lights coming on at the supposed end of a Wayne Newton concert.

    1. Re:SP3 end of April - XP end of life in June? by CannonballHead · · Score: 1

      Or if they want to release an update pack for those that they know will still be using XP.

  24. WGA required? by wiredlogic · · Score: 1

    So for those of us who opted out of installing WGA will we be able to make use of SP3 without installing unnecessary trojans from MS?

    --
    I am becoming gerund, destroyer of verbs.
    1. Re:WGA required? by QuantumG · · Score: 4, Informative

      The doc says you don't need WGA.

      --
      How we know is more important than what we know.
    2. Re:WGA required? by CSMatt · · Score: 4, Interesting

      But will SP3 install WGA?

    3. Re:WGA required? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      why don't you need WGA? It's the first thing that gets patched into your copy of XP

    4. Re:WGA required? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Meh. After the initial outcry over all the invalidated Windows XP installs, MS loosened up on the reigns and has been, in general, very helpful with everything activation related. You can even get a free key straight from MS on the phone if you play it right. I didn't need one but I tried it just to see if they were as frustrating to deal with as most people on /. say and whine about.

      Perhaps they've figured out the market. After seeing for myself how completely transparent and helpful they were being in this whole activation/validation thing, it basically removed any hatred I had for MS. Which is what I think they were going for. Pretty effective. I used to be a huge Linux evangelist...but now, why bother? XP is a perfectly fast and stable OS. Vista, if you turn off UAC, is an XP with a new UI. Not worth buying retail, but not worth fussing over when you buy a new computer (after all, most new laptops these days are coming with 2GB+ and a dual core processor...for only $500). So all I'm trying to say is, MS isn't that big of an issue anymore in hindering the functionality of our computers.

      So, the only reason for me to run Linux now is just for fun...they got rid of the reasons that made me want to protest their monopoly.

  25. contents of SP3 by the+brown+guy · · Score: 1
    --
    Orbis terrarum est non altus satis
  26. Because you're a lazy bastard by slimjim8094 · · Score: 1
    here's the news

    Developing service packs for operating systems like Windows XP, which is nearing its end-of-sales period, is
    a standard practice, and Microsoft does this for the convenience of its customers and partners. Users no
    longer need to install three to four years worth of updates when installing Windows XP, and partners have a
    new, updated baseline on which to test their applications and hardware.

    Microsoft Kernel Mode Cryptographic Module (Fips.sys) is a FIPS 140-1
    Level 1â"compliant, general purpose, software-based, cryptographic
    module in the kernel mode level of the Windows operating system. In other words, not much new. There's a few new things (this crypto driver, a black-hole router blocker, network management stuff), but it's mostly a big ol' rollup so it's not a pain in the tush to install everything.
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  27. what about retail? by Bill+Dog · · Score: 1

    Will there be retail boxes of WinXP with SP3 on store shelves some time?

    --
    Attention zealots and haters: 00100 00100
  28. One question. by Allnighterking · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Will it make it out before the proposed "EOL" for XP in June?

    --

    I'm sorry, I'm to tired to be witty at the moment so this message will have to do.

    1. Re:One question. by caseih · · Score: 1

      In 2009 you mean?

    2. Re:One question. by Nimey · · Score: 1

      He's referring to 30 June of this year, which is the last day that OEMs can install XP on a new computer.

      System builders can keep doing it until early '09, but I'm told they have to buy XP licenses in packs of 50.

      --
      Hail Eris, full of mischief...

      E pluribus sanguinem
    3. Re:One question. by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      I have seen system builder packs in one license and three license sizes, there may be larger though (just if there are the suppliers I use don't stock them)

      The trouble with system builder packs is they are a pain for places doing PC builds on a large scale.

      Each machine has to be installed using it's own individual key (or imaged and then rekeyed before activation) and then activated online or over the phone. The key sticker comes attached to the shrinkwrap packet containing the CD and manual (which is not how an assembly line operation would want them).

      --
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  29. Pejorative marketing? by nierdal · · Score: 1

    "This update also includes a small number of new functionalities, which do not significantly change customersâ(TM) experience with the operating system"

    Isn't that a bit pejorative for a so long awaited update?

  30. IE7 Not Included by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Am I the only one that noticed this?

    1. Re:IE7 Not Included by Brad1138 · · Score: 1

      Am I the only one that noticed this? I am not sure, who are you?
      --
      If you could reason with religious people, there would be no religious people
  31. I will download and have a look... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ISO or BIN/CUE?
    plz seed thx :)

    1. Re:I will download and have a look... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Don't get the ISO, it's corrupt

  32. Re:So much service! - Broadcom does work by ilikenwf · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    No, this commment would classify you as a bit of a n00b. You still using Ubuntu? You can get broadcom cards to work using firmware from linuxwireless + the b43 kernel module. I personally prefer to just compile the Zen Kernel from git (not to be confused with Xen). It's bleeding edge and fast. http://waninkoko.info/?q=node/14 Otherwise, just build the kernel module and get the firmware. I'm graduated from Kubuntu to Arch, and now am switching from Arch to Gentoo so I can have even more control and more speed.

  33. Re:So much service! - Broadcom does work by Perseid · · Score: 5, Insightful
    We go from:

    Ubuntu most of the time requires no specific knowledge. Start the live cd, double click the install icon and click next. Wait fifteen minutes and you have a stable system. to

    No, this commment would classify you as a bit of a n00b. You still using Ubuntu? You can get broadcom cards to work using firmware from linuxwireless + the b43 kernel module. I personally prefer to just compile the Zen Kernel from git (not to be confused with Xen). It's bleeding edge and fast. http://waninkoko.info/?q=node/14 Otherwise, just build the kernel module and get the firmware. I'm graduated from Kubuntu to Arch, and now am switching from Arch to Gentoo so I can have even more control and more speed. *blink*
  34. Re:So much service! - Broadcom does work by notamisfit · · Score: 2

    Yeah, I know. How the fuck do you think I'm on the net right now? Still, it takes a bit of homework and pre-planning to get it to work properly, which is a bit above and beyond for the average XP user thinking about Linux. Good luck with Gentoo, btw. I used it for about six months a few years back and "never again" is all I gotta say.

    --
    Jesus is coming -- look busy!
  35. Speed improvement by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What about the 10% speed improvement that was advertised a few months ago?

  36. Re:I will slipstream it and add the driver pack to by Gazzonyx · · Score: 5, Informative

    Just wanted to say thanks; driverpacks.net has saved me so much time and hassle slipstreaming and integrating images for work. Between driverpack.net, RyanVM, WPI, nlite and msfn.org forums, I've saved countless hours. I would have spent all that time either collecting files, writing scripts, etc. or just going through a Dell 'clean' install (which, even at my fastest, takes about 3 hours to slim down and then install the company apps, and configure/add to domain). Your driver packs saved my bacon a few months ago when the Dell cd drive died and I had to use one off the shelf. I've also pulled raw infs from them on occasion when I've needed a driver that I didn't want to hunt down. Thank you!

    --

    If I mod you up, it doesn't necessarily mean I agree with what you've said, sorry.

  37. Re:I will slipstream it and add the driver pack to by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    excellent. any other plans tonight?

  38. "Early summer"? by zsau · · Score: 1

    I was about to observe that having just finished summer a month and a half ago, I wouldn't be having another till mid next year, and wonder why Microsoft would take so long to release it, and why the heat would have anything to do with it. Then I realised I don't run Windows anyway, so it's a moot point.

    --
    Look out!
  39. Huh??? by BUL2294 · · Score: 1

    What's a phone booth?

    --
    Windows 3.1x calc: 3.11 - 3.10 = 0.00
    1. Re:Huh??? by rts008 · · Score: 4, Funny

      A phone booth is where Clark undresses into Superman, Peter undresses to Spiderman, the Shoeshine boy turns into Underdog, and Dr. Who does some really strange stuff.
      Where have you been?

      --
      Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
    2. Re:Huh??? by rdebath · · Score: 1

      Like this one perhaps?
      http://www.supermanhomepage.com/images/phonebooth/movie-phonebooth.jpg
      Or is that an elephant's phone booth.

    3. Re:Huh??? by NeoTerra · · Score: 1

      Don't forget that some phone booths can also travel through time.

    4. Re:Huh??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Police Box. Not a phone booth. A police box is like a little jail. The invention of modern handcuffs rendered them obsolete.

  40. Re:I will slipstream it and add the driver pack to by Ucklak · · Score: 1

    Microsoft has a crappy product with a super marketing and sales staff.

    You described a good half day for a reinstall and what a waste of time. Barring serious hardware problems, either the install before was crappy or the product is crappy.

    --
    if you steal from one source, that is plagiarism, if you steal from many, well, that's just research.
  41. 29'th? but half the IT industry will be 'sick' by AbRASiON · · Score: 1

    I dunno about you fella's but I've already booked my time off work, perhaps I can check out SP3 some time in May.
    http://www.rockstargames.com/IV/

  42. what about drivers? by sentientbrendan · · Score: 2, Interesting

    XP SP2 is ancient, and doesn't have tons of drivers for things as basic as SATA (for your harddrive), or new network interface cards. This makes win XP installation on newer machines a nightmare.

    Are they going to be selling win XP SP3 cd's with SP3 and drivers?

    As a side note, reading the download page and spec was pretty funny. They must have mentioned "XP SP3 doesn't contain new features" (it actually does contain new features if you read further) like 5 or 6 times. Someone is pretty scared that XP is going to kill Vista.

    1. Re:what about drivers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      XP SP2 is ancient, and doesn't have tons of drivers for things as basic as SATA (for your harddrive),

      Of course it does. My brother just bought a new desktop with a sata disk. It came with an xp professional SP2 cd. It installs just fine.

    2. Re:what about drivers? by DangerousDriver · · Score: 1

      Is that not maybe because it's running in IDE emulation mode and not native/ahci?

    3. Re:what about drivers? by jawtheshark · · Score: 1

      I think it depends on the included drivers SP2 entirely. I installed SP2 on a Gigabyte motherboard (for a Core 2 Duo E6600) with SATA disk and emulation was most definitely not enabled. (I disabled it to try, because I wanted to know the veracity of this rumour). Worked fine, without a glitch. This was a Volume Licence CD, slipstreamed to SP2, but *only* SP2.... No extra software nor manufacturer drivers

      So, if the SP2 fails on pure SATA installations, then it might be a newer chipset that isn't supported. The one I used, was supported.

      --
      Ahhh...the great dumpster continuum. Many a free computer will be found there. -- sowth (748135)
    4. Re:what about drivers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      doesn't have tons of drivers for things as basic as SATA (for your harddrive), or new network interface cards. This makes win XP installation on newer machines a nightmare. Hit one key on initial boot. Insert driver floppy. Type A:\. Press enter. Hardly a nightmare.

      Maybe it's possible to do similar with USB drives, but frankly, if you're not installing floppy drives in computers it's your own fault. There is no modern comparable satisfying:
      1. Cheap enough that you can afford to give away the media as part of giving away the content;
      2. Random access.

      I was hoping for DVD-RAM to catch on, as that'd've provided the closest to a "large floppy", but as it is, the floppy remains unparalleled (unless it's a parallel port floppy drive, of course).
    5. Re:what about drivers? by sentientbrendan · · Score: 1

      >Hit one key on initial boot.
      >Insert driver floppy. Type A:\. Press enter.
      >Hardly a nightmare.

      I have an a Lenovo X61, which has no floppy. Indeed, I can't recall seeing any computer on sale in the past few years that has a floppy drive.

      >if you're not installing floppy drives
      >in computers it's your own fault.

      Actually, I think it's Microsoft's fault for requiring a floppy for installing drivers, when computers don't even come with floppy drives anymore.

      My understanding is that they *do not* support USB thumb drives for XP. Most people are forced to slipstream drivers if they can't install with the drivers on the install CD.

      ># Cheap enough that you can afford to
      >give away the media as part of
      >giving away the content;

      That's what CD's are for. CD's are easier to come by, and probably cheaper than floppies. You can't rewrite (most) Cd's, but it doesn't matter since they are cheap enough to be disposable.

      ># Random access.

      Floppy drives are *not* random access. Random access means there is no seek, you just give an address and get the value stored at that address in some fixed amount of time. Floppies have spin a magnetic disk to seek to a location just like harddrives and CD's. That's what that annoying *grinding* sound is.

  43. Yeah, and reboots! by Gazzonyx · · Score: 1

    At work I've got 10mbit fiber, so the last time I had to download them all wasn't that bad (I didn't have my image updated, and I only need to do one box, so I just went from the Dell cd w/ base SP2), but I think it took about 5 reboots. Is that still accurate? I think this was about 6 months ago, maybe more.

    I've now made it my personal policy to install bootvis right after the install finishes, because the only thing less fun than watching a bar cross the screen (if you don't watch, you'll come back in an hour to find a modal dialog with an 'OK' option for installing IE 7 or something, and it hasn't done anything until you acknowledge it - I was furious!) is watching a box reboot, install a handful of patches and then reboot again.

    --

    If I mod you up, it doesn't necessarily mean I agree with what you've said, sorry.

  44. You Wish! by Gazzonyx · · Score: 1

    ... does "early summer" mean we have to wait until next March? No. You won't be getting it that early.
    --

    If I mod you up, it doesn't necessarily mean I agree with what you've said, sorry.

  45. New Stuff by Akzo · · Score: 1

    "Black Hole" Router Detection
    Network Access Protection (NAP)
    Descriptive Security Options User Interface
    Enhanced security for Administrator and Service policy entries
    Microsoft Kernel Mode Cryptographic Module
    Windows Product Activation

    --
    Sig is for Signature, so you don't have to manually sign every post.
    1. Re:New Stuff by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > "Black Hole" Router Detection

      The hell? This was patched into Windows 2000! Vista is just getting it now?

    2. Re:New Stuff by Helix666 · · Score: 0

      Vista, I'm not sure about, but XP certainly seems to be...

      --
      Oh, the irony... "Anonymous Coward: If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear!"
  46. My Name is Red... mond by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Damn... I opened that document and started to be cross-eyed. It's nothing knew that Microsoft's Designs are bloated kindergarden stuff. But the creator of this document deserves to be blinded with a needle after reading these pages -- remembering this ugly shit till the end of time.

  47. Remember the naysayers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I vividly recall numerous slashdot readers making the point that SP3 will never be released because it would discourage upgrading to Vista and give extra life to the aging XP OS. Just another (in this case) unjustified instance of slashdot anti-MS FUD.

    Where are the naysayers now? Just....all gone quiet?

  48. Re:I will slipstream it and add the driver pack to by networkBoy · · Score: 1

    you know you're preaching to the choir.
    Point is many of us don't have a choice if we want to collect a paycheck. These driver packs make the daily grind that much less unpleasant.
    -nB

    --
    whois gawk date unzip strip find touch finger mount join nice man top fsck grep eject more yes exit umount sleep dump
  49. Re:I will slipstream it and add the driver pack to by EnrikeKr · · Score: 1

    Ha, ha, ha, ha... We must be optimists! This remember me the Kill Rate's Strip

  50. Re:I will slipstream it and add the driver pack to by tomhudson · · Score: 1

    Microsoft has a crappy product with a super marketing and sales staff.

    Actually, their marketing is pretty shitty - otherwise you (and most anyone with a pulse) wouldn't notice that they have a crap product.

  51. Re:I will slipstream it and add the driver pack to by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That'll teach me for browsing at -1...

  52. April 29th? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    GTA4 is going to smash it!

  53. Re:So much service! - Broadcom does work by expatriot · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    Getting Broadcom support is not as easy as the one-click that some people imply.

    First you have to know that you need ndiswrapper
    You have to know how to get the wrapper
    You have to know which of the many versions matches your wireless card
    You have to install it (which for me required several sessions with a terminal window)
    You have to figure out how to get your wireless security set up
    You have to figure out why you can ping the router but firefox cannot find the server

  54. However by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You will not be able to take out the secretly NSA-mandated backdoor that will be discovered in three months until you find exactly where it is.

    Ergo, SP3.

  55. Re:So much service! - Broadcom does work by enemorales · · Score: 1

    Man, if you waited just two months more, X would have compiled and then it is not that bad... :-) (For me it was about a year of Gentoo. I moved to Ubuntu at the end, but with Gentoo I learned a lot...)

  56. does anyone know by hesaigo999ca · · Score: 1

    Does anyone know if the remaining available copies of windows xp you can buy, will come with the sp3 cd with it, to avoid downloading from the net or need to download and be vulnerable to malware seeing as 2 minutes into patches, you have viruses...

        : (

  57. Re:So much service! - Broadcom does work by FictionPimp · · Score: 1

    Of course for me, with the latest ubuntu. I had to do none of these things. My wireless works with the supplied drivers (I think I had to do one apt-get install)

  58. If Vista didn't suck by phorm · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If Vista didn't suck, you'd have no reason to complain...

    That's a pretty big "if" right there. If Vista didn't suck, I'm sure some of the anti-MS zealots would still complain, but there would be a lot more of us (myself included) that would be willing to move off of XP.

    As it is, the choices are:

    a) XP: Doesn't run things like DX10, newer hardware, and support is being curtailed
    b) Vista: Make powerful machines run like crud, and base-level machines cause you to reminisce fondly of your old 386. Extra, useless cruft. Familiar menus relocated for no apparent reason.
    c) Alternate OS (Linux, etc) Learning curve (for some). Doesn't run all software that the above may run. Doesn't run all hardware. Less (but growing) industry support/recognition

    None of these are exactly a perfect choice... I would have been happy with a Vista/Linux dual-boot if not for the suckitude of Vista.

  59. Re:I will slipstream it and add the driver pack to by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Dude...

    dd if=/dev/sda of=hd-backup.img

  60. Re:I will slipstream it and add the driver pack to by Gazzonyx · · Score: 1

    So long as all my hard drives are the same size and I've got all the drivers I'll ever need already installed! :-) And, one should use ddrescue to skip over bad blocks! ;)

    --

    If I mod you up, it doesn't necessarily mean I agree with what you've said, sorry.

  61. What does it update?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Am I the only one that can't find any info on what exactly this service pack does?
    From TFA:
    "Windows® XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) includes all previously released updates for the operating system. This update also includes a small number of new functionalities, which do not significantly change customersâ(TM) experience with the operating system. This white paper summarizes what is new in Windows XP SP3."

    And that would be what exactly?...

  62. Another handy app for Linux dual-booting: by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

    Ext2 IFS for Windows.

    http://www.fs-driver.org/

    Since you'll be using Ext3, make sure you shut down from Ubuntu before booting into Windows if you want to be able to access your files on the Linux partition from there. There's a conf file tweak you can do so that you won't need to shut down (just do a restart), but someone else will have to help you out with that, I'm not that good with Linux yet.

    Any takers?

    --
    "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
  63. re: SP3 issues by King_TJ · · Score: 1

    I think we'll need a little more proof of SP3 being "just fine" than it working well on YOUR particular PC.

    I recently had a customer of mine ask me to replace a dead hard drive in her HP Pavilion P4 notebook computer. After I did that, I did a fresh Windows XP Pro re-install, followed immediately by the latest beta of SP3. (I figured, hey, it might be beta - but it HAS to be better than trying to download 80+ patches after applying SP2. I just want to get her a reasonably secure, working system without spending all day working on the thing!) Well, turned out that was a bad decision. After updating it to SP3, I wasn't able to get the audio or software modem drivers to work at all. I wound up having to reformat and go back to XP with SP2 before the sound would install properly.

  64. re: Familiar menus relocated for no reason? by King_TJ · · Score: 1

    Oh, those menus in Vista were moved for a perfectly good reason. It's called *training*. Do you realize how big an industry the whole MCSE certification thing is? And additionally, how many people have employment as certified Microsoft trainers?

    I'm completely convinced MS juggles around things in each major new OS and application release on purpose, to ensure you have to spend thousands on re-certification to keep up with the current systems.

  65. Re: SP3 issues by really? · · Score: 1

    It's the silly installers. Not really a SP3 issue other than the OS version presented to the installer. Shrug.

    --

    "Consistency is contrary to nature, contrary to life. The only completely consistent people are the dead." A. Huxley
  66. Re:So much service! - Broadcom does work by ilikenwf · · Score: 0

    You don't have to use ndiswrapper, dude. You can just use b43. It's easy. I have a broadcom running natively in linux. See here: http://linuxwireless.sipsolutions.net/en/users/Drivers/b43 Ubuntu's (big, slow) default kernel uses bcm43xx by default, a deprecated driver, unless you're using Hardy. I didn't mean to flame there, I'm sorry. I'm just a little...well, passionate.

  67. Convicted my ass.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


    Convicted yes, but at what cost? The Justice Department is busily converting over damned-near everything to Microsoft platforms. Near as I can tell, judging from the outcome, that if you're Microsoft it pays in spades to get convicted.

  68. One of these things is not like the other.... by AnotherFangirl · · Score: 0

    The TARDIS just happens to be stuck in the shape of a police box, but it is much much more. Then again... It would not be so much of an amazing feat if said Vista-Elephant jumped into the TARDIS. That thing is huge inside. It might only have a problem with the door.

  69. Re:So much service! - Broadcom does work by ohtani · · Score: 1

    I've been using Linux in a server environment for over 10 years as well as desktop on and off during that time, and have a decent amount of knowledge in how to get things to work with it. I really enjoy Linux. I really do. But it's comments like ilikenwf's that REALLY make me hate the community at times. Unless you can explain to somebody's grandmother what to do and get them to successfully do it without your help at a later time, never call somebody a n00b because they can't do it. Just don't. Ever. That comment needs to be more rated -1000 flamebait.

    And yes I know I'm replying to flamebait, but my comment is also aimed at OTHERS who have made similar comments. People REALLY need to stop assuming everybody knows the intricacies of a computer and how compiling works and that if you're not using Linux you're an idiot. It does nothing but make the community look bad.

    --
    Pancakes. Oh I blew it.
  70. Re: Familiar menus relocated for no reason? by ConceptJunkie · · Score: 1

    I wouldn't take your suggestion seriously, but having flipped through MCSE materials and seeing how much of it is based on rote memorization, I'm inclined to agree.

    --
    You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
  71. Re:So much service! - Broadcom does work by ilikenwf · · Score: 0

    I may have geeked out in a moment of passion. Sorry. But broadcom works by default in ubuntu nowadays, and even better drivers are coming out.

  72. Once on a death march, it is difficult to consider by Futurepower(R) · · Score: 1

    Windows XP won't sold after June 31, 2008, 68 days from now (2008-04-22).

    This is how it works in practice: Once Microsoft has started a product on its death march, it is difficult for a corporation to continue to be involved with it.

  73. Re:I will slipstream it and add the driver pack to by petermgreen · · Score: 1

    better to use something like partimage or ghost which will create images of used space only and can restore to a partition of different size to the original.

    --
    note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
  74. Re:Once on a death march, it is difficult to consi by petermgreen · · Score: 1

    System builder packs will remain availible until january of next year, volume license agreements come with very generous downgrade rights and iirc vista buisness OEM comes with downgrade rights to XP pro.

    --
    note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
  75. That's not generous, it is abusive. by Futurepower(R) · · Score: 1

    "... very generous ..."

    I've never heard anything Microsoft did called "very generous" before.

    HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of people are protesting that Microsoft is killing the operating system they use, for the sole motive of making more profit. That's not generous, it's abusive.

    The InfoWorld protest is only a tiny percentage of the people who will be enormously inconvenienced if they are forced eventually to change to another operating system.

    Rather than "very generous", in my opinion the words "viciously destructive" apply.

    Microsoft has scheduled the death of Windows XP at the same time that it has demonstrated an inability to deliver a new version. Even Steve Ballmer admits that Microsoft has been unable to deliver a finished operating system. He calls it "a work in progress".

    Apparently good programmers don't want to work for Microsoft. If they are very skilled and creative, they want to work for Google.

    Bill Gates leaves Microsoft soon. Steve Ballmer is trying to buy Yahoo, a company with 16,000 employees, many of whom don't want to work for him. Yahoo doesn't have skilled programmers, or they wouldn't be having financial problems during a time when Google is doing very well. Now does not seem a good time to consider buying anything new from Microsoft.

    1. Re:That's not generous, it is abusive. by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of people are protesting that Microsoft is killing the operating system they use, for the sole motive of making more profit. That's not generous, it's abusive.

      A lot of people are exagerating the situation. Between downgrade rights for OEM vista buisness/ultimate and downgrade rights in volume license programs XP it is not as though XP is going to become unavailible.

      BTW it is not contradictory for MS to be very generous to it's volume licensing customers and reasonablly generous to those who buy buisness or ultimate OEM while at the same time screwing those who buy vista home basic or home premium OEM.

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
  76. Re:I will slipstream it and add the driver pack to by empaler · · Score: 1

    Microsoft has a crappy product with a super marketing and sales staff.

    Actually, their marketing is pretty shitty - otherwise you (and most anyone with a pulse) wouldn't notice that they have a crap product.

    They don't mind that you notice that after forking over the cash
  77. Re:So much service! - Broadcom does work by expatriot · · Score: 1

    Interesting that this is modded flamebait when it describes an actual sequence of events that I went through trying to get Broadcom support for my laptop.
    I know slashdotters are fond of Linux and think it can do no wrong. But there are real problems for non-technical users.
    I have been using computers for decades and it took me an entire evening to get wireless to work. There are going to be many less technical users that will simply give up and stay with Windows.
    Yes, newer laptops have fewer problems and it is possible to shop around for a system that will work without going into configuration scripts.
    That does not mean however that everything just works. The next laptop I buy will probably be an Apple. From what I have heard from friends that have them, they really do just work.

  78. Don't patch manually or download every time. by hman · · Score: 1

    Take a look at ctupdate.
    Google c't Projekte - Offline-Update
    Download ALL security fixes once, run from USB disk or burn CDs or DVDs, patch everywhere (automatically I feeld the need to add).
    Still hundred of patches but at least you run the client, flag "autoreboot", "keep log", "install IE7" if you want to, and return some time later.
    In some instances you'll get a message "please reboot manually now then rerun" (usually max 1 or 2 times), otherwise fully automatic.

    THEN (if you want to) run Microsoft update for not-security fixes you'd like.
    Oh, remember to install other MS stuff like Office and Mediaplayer you could want before patching, so you'll have to do that only once.

  79. Attempt to eventually force customers away from XP by Futurepower(R) · · Score: 1

    "A lot of people are exaggerating the situation."

    "... while at the same time screwing those ..."

    It's abusive. Microsoft has announced its intention to try to force its customers to pay more money, when most are happy with what they have. Whether or not Microsoft is successful is not the point. It's adversarial.

    Remember, this is also an attempt to eventually force customers away from Windows XP in the future, only to get more money for Microsoft. It affects people who have thousands of copies and don't want or need new licenses.

    EXTREMELY abusive.

  80. my experience by sentientbrendan · · Score: 1

    was on a Lenovo X61, which would not run XP outside of emulation mode until I got new SATA drivers.

    I guess there are *some* SATA drivers on XP by default, but they were definitely useless to me.