XP SP2 on the Go

Tablet PC Enhancements
When you upgrade a Tablet PC with SP2, the OS is updated to XP Tablet PC Edition 2005, which includes all the SP2 features plus a series of Tablet PC­specific upgrades. The most visible of the latter is the revised Tablet PC Input Panel. By default, the Input Panel is still at the bottom of the display, as in the original XP for Tablet PC, but now an icon appears when you hover the stylus over a text field. Tapping that icon opens an Input Panel that "floats" over the field, as Figure 3 shows. This minimizes the need to move the stylus from the text field to the fixed Input Panel, which makes using a Tablet PC less tiring. The Input Panel continues to include options for handwriting (cursive or printing) and a pop-up keyboard and offers a new option specifically designed for entering one letter at a time. Handwriting recognition has improved considerably; with the original XP Tablet PC Edition, I avoided handwriting and mainly used the pop-up keyboard, but with SP2, I'm finding that the handwriting recognizer is actually accurate enough to make handwriting an option.

You can further improve recognition for vertical and line-of-business applications by adding an XML-based context tag for fields that have a restricted set of acceptable input. For example, if a field accepts only two-letter state abbreviations, tagging it causes the recognizer to accept only appropriate abbreviations in that field. You can put the tags in one or more XML files and add the files to the same directory as the application--you don't need to change the application code. You can find more information about adding XML tags in the software development kit (SDK) for XP Tablet PC Edition 2005: SDK 1.7. SDK 1.7 is available from the Microsoft Download Center at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads (select Windows XP Tablet PC Edition from the Product/Technology drop-down list and type SDK into the Keyword field).

SP2 Deployment
As with past service packs, the standard method to deploy SP2 uses the update.exe program and either local source files (the fastest method) or a network share. The command syntax for update.exe has changed for SP2 and includes new options including command-line switches to uninstall the service pack and ignore (or replace) OEM driver files and extended error codes to help debug deployment scripts. For details, see "Changes to Functionality in Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2" and "Guide for Installing and Deploying the Beta Version of Service Pack 2 for Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition and Windows XP Professional (SPDeploy)"; URLs for these articles are in the Learning Path box. You can also deploy SP2 by using Windows Installer and Group Policy.

Given the range of compatibility problems that SP2 can create, many administrators might be tempted to ignore it. That would be a serious mistake. SP2's security changes cut the OS's attack surface (i.e., the number of interfaces exposed to the outside world) approximately in half. Thus, an XP SP2 computer is significantly more resistant to virus and worm attacks. Many SP2 features are also previews of what we're likely to see in future versions of Windows. I believe that administrators who support XP users--especially those who support mobile users, who frequently use their computers outside corporate firewalls--should upgrade them to SP2. Planning and doing a proper roll-out will take time, but the security and maintenance improvements are well worth it.