Anyway, Service Pack 2 of Windows XP is an 80 megabyte installation file. 
You may want to wait for getting it on CD-ROM or you better hope you have a broadband Internet connection.
Posted on 08/07/2004 6:30:53 AM PDT by Dubya
Microsoft Corp. released a long-awaited security update for its Windows XP program Friday, responding to growing security problems in the market-dominant computer operating system.
The free upgrade won't be available to everyone right away. Microsoft said the timing will depend on several factors, including customers' Internet usage, location and language, as well as demand for the upgrade, called Service Pack 2.
Customers with computers programmed to receive updates automatically will begin getting Service Pack 2 within days, company spokesman Matt Pilla said Friday. About 100 million customers are expected to receive automatic updates within two months.
Too bad there's already critical vulnerabilities out (with exploits) that this won't address.
Yea it is. I have been using Firefox.
Ummm, OK, you go first and tell us how it is.
Anyway, Service Pack 2 of Windows XP is an 80 megabyte installation file. You may want to wait for getting it on CD-ROM or you better hope you have a broadband Internet connection.
I have a slip streamed SP1 XP CD, and I plan on doing the same with SP2 XP. =)
Dear **** users,
When MS is no longer the ruler of most systems, YOURS will be next so quit being so smug and self-righteous.
Just because there is no challenge to tear your systems apart .... yet! does not mean you will escape unscathed.
Like banks using Linux found out - there were HUGE gaping holes there also!
Notice the (past) tense. The holes were (and are) fixed before any major vulnerabilities are used by the bad guys.
that is the major advantage--not that Linux is necessarily more secure all the time, but that the weaknesses are fixed before anyone can take advantage of them.
DISCLAIMER: I know there have been Linux worms and trojans in the past, but (again) those have been fixed much faster than MS ever has.
Prep with some lube before downloading
This raises the issue of who is in charge of the computer.
On Windows computers, Microsoft is indeed the ruler. The user is forced to become subservient to the whims of Microsoft.
On other systems, the user is the king. It's good the be the king.
I am no fan of Microfraud, but I do have to admit that the bottom line on security is the user. A well-informed user who uses the Internet defensively needs only a firewall.
I ran my first virus scan in almost three years the other day, and my machine was completely clean.
People commonly have 80 Gig hard drives these days. So the SP2 file is one one-thousandth of total storage space. Those with dialup can just start the download when they retire for the night.
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