The Wild and Wacky World of Windows

Written on May 1, 2008  |  by RP Mickler  |  Leave a Comment  | 

Q2 2008 is shaping up as an interesting quarter for Microsoft Partners as Microsoft releases a slew of service packs and critical system updates.

Windows Vista SP1 was finally released for Windows Ultimate and Windows Business a couple of weeks ago. I wrote about the improvements and features found in Service Pack 1 in March.

Windows XP SP 3 was released April 1 (a very interesting date to release a service pack), suspended because of an incompability with a commercial piece of software, then re-released this week on April 29. It is scheduled for WindowsUpdate push in June 2008 but can be downloaded now.

About the Windows XP Service Pack:

According to Wikipedia, there are a total of 1,073 fixes in SP3 with significant updates to XP Media Center Edition, XP Tablet PC Edition, and .NET Framework security updates distributed earlier as hotfixes. The WinXP box must be running SP1 to install SP3, which is a new issue since service packs have been historically cummulative. New features include “Black Hole Router Detection” (an ability found in Vista to find routers who’re discarding packets), an improved cryptographic module for developers and Network Access Protection (NAP – to integrate with Windows Server 2008 native capabilities). Minor updates to BITS to improve security, the Windows Installer, and PNRP (Peer Name Resolution Protocol) to allow WinXP SP3-based programs to communicate with Vista programs that use this protocol.

Who Should Install All of These?

If you run Microsoft Windows Vista, you can access the Security section of the Control Panel and check for updates. SP1 could be sitting there, waiting for your approval. Prepare yourself: it’s a big download and it’ll take an hour or two to install. You’ll need a lot of time. If you have legacy (older) devices and perhipherals, use caution. If you aren’t sure and aren’t comfortable with fixing your own computer, probably best to ask a local techhead before install. Things can go wrong with this service pack. In fact, it may even be best to wait if your machine is behind a firewall, you use standard productivity applications, and you won’t be upgrading any time soon. Don’t hurt yourself if you don’t have to.

If you run Microsoft Windows XP SP2, you should upgrade to SP3. There are some significant security advantages to SP3 and its impact on the operating system is less traumatic and time consuming than the SP1 update for Vista. Relatively – quick and painless. A lot of these accumulated hot fixes have probably already been applied to your station, but it’s best to be current.

And if that isn’t enough, if you’re running Windows 2003 Server, watch out for WSUS 3.0 SP1′s update which has it’s own user interface for the update!

Whew! Busy quarter…!

R