Since its arrival, SP2 has been under the equivalent of an electron microscope. It doesn't seem to matter whether a post-SP2 installation problem (notice that I didn't say "SP2-caused?") is a showstopper or a pixel out of place. Every problem, no matter how big or small, is apparently worthy of its own headline.
As corporate I.T. departments weigh the pros and cons of installing Microsoft's update for machines running the XP operating system -- Service Pack 2 -- the software maker continues its push to get home users to update immediately. Last week, Microsoft announced that users of would automatically receive Edition 2005 of the TabletPC operating system along with SP2.
Glitches between Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) and critical applications continue to emerge, with McAfee admitting its flagship VirusScan product prior to version 7.1 requires a customised patch to be operational with Windows Security Center, part of SP2.
McAfee also said its enterprise Desktop Firewall product requires a patch before it can function with Windows Security Center. Since it was released, activists have been searching for weaknesses in Microsoft's security-focused service pack.
Microsoft Corp. says it will ship the next version of Windows in 2006, but has scaled back plans to include a new system for finding and storing information in its flagship operating system.
This is the first time the world's largest software maker has committed to a launch target for the ambitious upgrade to Windows, code-named Longhorn, since shipping the current version, Windows XP, in October 2001.
Microsoft on Thursday flatly denied reports that one of Windows XP Service Pack 2's most touted features leaves users open to possible attacks. In effect, hackers have better things to do, Microsoft said.
According to one outside analysis, SP2's Windows Security Center, the dashboard-like console that monitors and reports on the status of various security defenses -- from firewalls to anti-virus software -- can be spoofed by hackers into displaying false information, such as an enabled firewall or a even a totally bogus anti-virus package supposedly protecting the PC.
Microsoft this month is moving forward with the developer implementation of its anti-spam Sender ID framework, but open-source advocates and mail vendors doubt whether the software giant's new proposed license meets open-source requirements. Sender ID is a proposed IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) e-mail standard that combines Microsoft's earlier Caller ID proposal with SPF (Sender Policy Framework), which was developed by Meng Weng Wong, founder of IC Group Inc.'s Pobox.com.
As expected, the release of Microsoft’s Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows XP is being met with reports, even from Microsoft itself, of unexpected conflicts.
Based on similar experiences with Microsoft's Windows XP Service Pack 1, the reports have led some to suggest holding off the installation of SP2 until the initial dust settles and Microsoft responds with fixes to the biggest showstoppers.
A newly discovered flaw in Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) affects various IE releases, including the version in Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), leaving users of the incredibly buggy browser open to attack. The flaw, which security firm Secunia disclosed this weekend, affects IE 6, 5.5, and 5.01 and Windows XP SP2 and SP1.
Microsoft is only partway into delivering the long-awaited Service Pack 2 for Windows XP to users, yet it has already begun releasing fixes for problems that the mammoth update can cause, however inadvertently.
The company has issued what is likely the first of several "hotfix" patches – patches that address specific problems - which developers and analysts say are just a fact of PC life.
Microsoft Corp.'s decision to release a major upgrade for its flagship operating system in the same month that hundreds of thousands of students are
reporting to college campuses across the nation is causing a major headache for the higher education community.
