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Last-Minute Glitch Holds Up Windows XP SP3

Posted by kdawson on from the it's-always-something dept.

An anonymous reader sends word that Microsoft Windows XP SP3, which had been scheduled to hit the Web today, was pulled back at the last minute. SP3 apparently broke a Microsoft application, Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System. Their solution is to set up a filter to make sure that no system running the affected software will get automatically updated; once the filter is in place, SP3 will be released to the Web. A fix for the incompatibility will follow.

10 of 162 comments (clear)

  1. Curious by TubeSteak · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You'd think Microsoft would test Service Packs against all Microsoft products while the SPs are still in Alpha or Beta.

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    [Fuck Beta]
    o0t!
    1. Re:Curious by Romancer · · Score: 4, Insightful

      That is what alpha and beta testing is supposed to address. It's not unreasonable to expect that during the beta testing of a piece of software that they would try and make sure it was compatable with at least the software packages they sell.

      And secondly, this is what happens when software isn't sectioned off from the os and contained with reasonable restrictions and documented APIs. This would be a really simple thing for them if they even stuck to their own standards. How would if break another application if they had communicated a set of standards to both departments on how to program properly. Or even built an OS that contained programs to a reasonable level and didn't always throw crap into the OS directory. /rant

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    2. Re:Curious by Z34107 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Bah. "FUD," I think the word is.

      Or even built an OS that contained programs to a reasonable level and didn't always throw crap into the OS directory.

      I assume you're talking about DLL hell. This has been solved since at least XP - overwriting a file in a system directory will silently fail if it's being replaced with an older copy. So, replacing winsock.dll version 2.1 with a version 1.0 because you fail at writing an installer will no longer screw up your system.

      Think of Service Packs as analogous to kernel patches. Those have been known to screw up a few programs, haven't they?

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  2. What a surprise by thetoadwarrior · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's a shame they don't have full access to all Microsoft products to test this long before the release date.

  3. Isn't this anticompetitive? by annamadrigal · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Seriously, if Microsoft is prepared to hold up an update of this sort and then modify the procedure to kludge their way around the problem for their own software but would just release the patch if it was someone else's application, then this seems extremely dubious to my non-expert mind. After all, doesn't this give their applications the unusual, and unfair, advantage that they might work with Windows both before and after a major update?

  4. A Dynamics Feature! by DnemoniX · · Score: 5, Informative

    I work for an online retailer and one of my recent tasks was to evaluate Dynamics for potential use in house. The problem that we ran into was that the media that Microsoft sent us directly plain didn't work. We couldn't even get the package to install; hell we even read the manual. We tried it on XP, Server 2003, and 2008 beta. The installer walks you through all of the preinstall requirements and manages to explode every time. So are they sure SP3 dumping Dynamics isn't just a "feature"?

    We are looking at the Apache Open For Biz suite now instead and if that doesn't satisfy management they will go with SugarCRM.

  5. well done by geekoid · · Score: 4, Insightful

    they caught an error and patched it for everyone else while working on it.

    This can happen to any patch that rolls out. It's when it's not caught that we should complain.

    No, I am NOT an apologist.

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  6. I'm not suprised by EmbeddedJanitor · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Firstly, the type of organisation using retail management systems tend to be conservative and not bleeding edge because downtime costs money. They would not be playing with beta SP releases and would not be seeing problems.

    Secondly, Microsoft is not one monolithic entity, as many believe, but a group of different business units. The DRMS folk aren't going to drop their current activities to check whether a different business unit's updates work.

    Thirdly, so what! Why not ship it anyway with a release note saying "Don't use with DRMS!". SP2 broke some MS developer tools and that did not stop them shipping it. Some organisations had to wait months for updates before they could migrate to SP2.

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    Engineering is the art of compromise.
  7. Our fears confirmed by MrKevvy · · Score: 4, Funny

    SP3...apparently broke a Microsoft application, Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System...

    Service Pack withdrawn because it breaks the Microsoft DRM System. Cue tinfoil hats.

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  8. Amazed by jdc180 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm amazed the submitter didn't go for the glitzy headline: "Microsoft breaks RMS"