Category: Windows

SP2: Why haven’t you installed it?

You probably already read the story I posted a few days ago, about the woman whose computer was taken over by some piece of spyware and then was further damaged by the software that was supposed to get rid of the infection.

I exchanged a few e-mails with her, and in one I asked whether she had installed Windows XP Service Pack 2. No, she said. She had heard there were problems with it.

Oh boy. If she had had SP2 installed, I can say with a high degree of confidence that she would not have been bitten by the spyware bug. But a few rumors were enough to scare her away from the one thing that would probably have been her best protection.

Are you running Windows XP? Are you still waiting to install SP2? If so, why? Installing any piece of software has risks attached to it, but this one is exceptionally well tested, and the likelihood that you will have problems is very small compared to the positive changes in security you’ll see.

Of course, you should back up your data first. But you should have a current backup of your important data at all times; it shouldn’t just be something you do every 18 months or so when a service pack comes out.

Seriously, if you’re still waiting for SP2, send me a note and tell me why. I don’t get it.

Oh, and I’ll be re-enabling comments soon.

“Lighter” Windows on the way?

The Wall Street Journal (subscription required, so no link) reports:

Microsoft Corp. said Monday it is ready to put a stripped down version of Windows on the market if it fails this week to persuade a judge to suspend a landmark European Union antitrust decision.

It wouldn’t surprise me of the recent announcement of the “Windows Light” variant in the Far East was part of this effort. Personally, I’d be very interested in a lightweight version of Windows that cost $10-20 instead of $100. At that price, anyone running an older version of Windows could probably justify the upgrade for security reasons.

Gee, few problems with SP2

CNET News.com reports:

A new study released this week from consultant AssetMetrix found that the typical company can expect at least some SP2 compatibility issues on about 10 percent of its machines that run the software.

“There will be some, what I would consider, transitory issues,” said Steve O’Halloran, managing director for AssetMetrix’s research arm. “In most cases the software just needs a little configuration (change) and the incompatibility goes away.”

Transitory issues. A little configuration change. Sounds pretty good to me. Don’t you think so? From the same story:

[C]omputer makers say the upgrade has not resulted in the support headaches that they had feared.

“We would have expected our call volume to increase significantly,” said Bob Cote, vice president of client services at Gateway. Instead, Cote said that Gateway is getting fewer than 100 calls per day related to SP2.

Many PC makers credited the results to advanced planning and Microsoft’s listening to their advice to stagger the release of the software upgrade. …

A Dell representative said the company was prepared for an increase in support calls, but so far has seen only a brief spike. “We saw a little bit of an uptick when the service pack first became available, but call volumes today are within the norms,” Dell representative Jennifer Jones said.

Gateway’s Cote said most of the support calls have been general inquiries, with customers trying to decide whether to upgrade or wait. “We’re recommending that they go ahead,” he said…

Note: I found this entry via a blog entry at Dan Gillmor’s site, headlined “Windows Service Pack: More issues.” Funny. I would have written a different headline.

Q&A: SP2 and performance

Reader Mark Roberts asks: “does sp2 make winxp boot slower. I think i am experiencing same. “

Mark, I’ve read hundreds of first-person reports on SP2, and I have not seen any reports of performance problems. In fact, a few people say they think some things are actually faster, and that’s my experience as well.

If you’re experiencing slowdowns, you may have an auto-starting application, service, or driver interfering with startup. I would use Msconfig’s Startup tab or a similar utility to disable as much as possible and see if the problem persists. Then start adding items back a few at a time and see if the problem reappears.

Longhorn wish list

You haven’t read much about Longhorn (code name for the next version of Windows) here. I’ve been to plenty of public demonstrations and discussions of Longhorn, along with a few private briefings. Most of what I saw was interesting but obviously very early and unfinished. I’ve installed and experimented with some alpha versions of Longhorn. Everything was rough and ragged (as you would expect for pre-alpha code) and I had better things to do than tinker with highly unstable software. Besides, unless you’re a software developer or hardware designer, knowing a lot about Longhorn isn’t going to help you.

Today, Mary Jo Foley reports that Microsoft plans to “gut Longhorn” so that it can ship an operating system upgrade in 2006:

After the cuts, Longhorn won’t look much like the early builds that Microsoft has been distributing to date. But it should run existing applications.

According to developer sources, Microsoft is cutting back Longhorn client’s planned feature set so as to be able to make its current delivery targets: Beta 1 by next year and final release some time in 2006.

Microsoft is expected to announce officially later on Friday its future roadmap for the desktop version of Longhorn. And while developers and customers who expected they’d be required to rewrite their applications to take advantage of Longhorn may be happy with Microsoft’s roadmap changes, others who were banking on promised Longhorn features, such as the next-gen Windows File System, will be far less so.

The end result? Longhorn is going to be a lot more of an evolutionary than a revolutionary Windows release.

I have no problem with that. The core of Windows XP is pretty darn good. Adding a few cool new features and a select handful of major changes, without affecting backward compatibility with Windows XP, would make me happy. If Microsoft does nothing else with Longhorn, they need to fix the user permissions model, which encourages – even forces – users to run as Administrator all the time.

A secure operating system should provide at least three user modes:

  • Administrator – reserved for system management tasks such as installing hardware drivers, upgrading operating system components, and installing programs that need to run with system-level permissions.
  • Trusted User – this is the type of account you and I should be running under all the time. It should allow me to install signed programs and drivers, run any installed program and use any installed device. It should prompt me to enter an Administrator’s credentials when I install unsigned software or use a program that has system-level rights.
  • Limited User – With this type of account, I should be able to run software but not make any system configuration changes. An Administrator should be able to configure which programs I am allowed to run but I shouldn’t be able to install any software and I should be allowed to access only signed drivers that are already installed.

Right now, Windows XP offers Administrator and Limited options only. Few people choose to run as a Limited user, because the experience is unpleasant. Anyone who can dupe an Administrator into installing a program can take over their box. That’s the biggest change that has to happen in Longhorn.

Second biggest usability tweak to fix is the ability to transfer programs along with files and settings. Right now, if I move to a new PC, I can transfer all my files and most of my settings, but the programs have to be re-installed from scratch. That’s no fun. There should be a Windows standard way to “package” an installed program for transfer to another computer, with required program files, support files, DLLs, Registry settings, and so on able to come along for the ride.

Honestly, I don’t care that much about Win FS and Avalon. They’re cool, but they can wait. Fix those two things and Longhorn will be worth the upgrade.

Order SP2 on CD

You can now order the Windows XP Service Pack 2 on CD. I recommend that you get one of these CDs, even if you already downloaded SP2 and installed it yourself. You can use the “official” CD to install the upgrade on computers belonging to friends and family members who don’t have high-speed connections or who are technically unsophisticated and afraid of the process.

There’s no charge, by the way, not even for shipping and handling. Currently, the CD is available only for the English language version of SP2. Other versions will be available next month.

SP2 now on Windows Update?

According to Brian Johnson, Service Pack 2 is now available via Windows Update. If you’ve been waiting, this is your opportunity. Unlike the full download, the Windows Update version is tailored to your Windows version. It’s still large, but it is considerably smaller than the full download.

Update: I just checked on my unpatched test system and WU is still not showing availability of SP2. It is available via Automatic Updates, however. I’ll keep you posted.

SP2 rollout delayed

Mary Jo Foley says Microsoft Pushes Back Automatic Delivery of SP2:

August 16 was set to be D-day for the automatic delivery of Microsoft’s Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2).

But at the last minute, the Redmond software vendor decided to push back by at least nine days the Windows Update/Automatic Update launch date for its collection of security fixes and features. Microsoft cited customer demand as the reason for the delay.

So if you’re waitig for Automatic Update to kick in, you’ll need to wait a bit longer.

“You need to install SP2. Period.”

The Washington Post’s Rob Pegoraro calls SP2 a Must For XP Users:

Individual Windows users bear the same responsibility: If you run XP, you need to install SP2. Period. Loading a system update this big is never risk-free, but the far bigger risk is to keep stumbling along with an unpatched copy of Windows XP. Ask a computer-savvy friend to install it if you must. But don’t wait for the viruses and worms to stop coming. They won’t.

Generally accurate and a well-balanced view.