Print - Microsoft Ships Windows XP SP2 RC2

Sometime this morning, Microsoft will publicly launch the second public preview release of Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), the oft-delayed Release Candidate 2 (RC2) build, giving customers one last chance to test the product and the myriad of changes it brings. XP SP2 is an extensive, security-oriented update to XP that, in many ways, is as disruptive as a major Windows release.

"The updates and enhancements in Windows XP SP2 focus on three main areas," a Microsoft spokesperson told me late yesterday, "including stronger security settings, increased manageability and control, and improved and more secure experiences." XP SP2 includes stronger default security settings and updates; new features and tools that will help customers better defend their systems, including information about attackers, viruses, and other security threats; more accessible and intuitive security tools, including the new Windows Security Center; updates for key drivers; support for new technologies; and security updates for key features.

For Tablet PC users, the update also provides a major refresh of XP Tablet PC Edition that adds a much-improved Tablet Input Panel and other features. Likewise, Media Center PC users will find their systems updated to XP Media Center Edition 2005, also a major update, after they install XP SP2.

You can download XP SP2 RC2 from the Microsoft Web site sometime today. For more information about this crucial release, refer to my review of the product on the SuperSite for Windows .

"Likewise, Media Center PC users will find their systems updated to XP Tablet PC Edition 2005" you mean MCE 2005 not Table PC 2005... :P

Your Comments (required): WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO REVIEW WINDOWS XP SERVICE PACK TWO RELEASE CANDIDATE TWO?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? THANSK FOR THE ARTICLES AT YOUR SITE THEY ARE REALLY USEFULL GOOD BYE

"Likewise, Media Center PC users will find their systems updated to XP Tablet PC Edition 2005, also a major update, after they install XP SP2." Hmmm... you might want to reword this... :-)

"Likewise, Media Center PC users will find their systems updated to XP Tablet PC Edition 2005, also a major update, after they install XP SP2" Interesting! Media Center edition to Tablet PC Edition!

What I find most interesting is that according to the newsgroups, not only has MSFT included the "new and improved" license key checking in RC2, but hackers can already get around it. Seems once again the only people to suffer are the home users. For myself, I run W98SE, W2K, and WXP Pro, because I can't afford all the upgrade costs. I'd much prefer to run the same OS on all my machines, but MSFT price themselves out of that market.

When will Microsoft stop lying to their customers about the release of this service pack? They're getting as bad as Steve Jobs and Apple!

This is a really good pack; it includes loads of nesaccery fixes that people don't normally bother to install, and the included firewall is a nice addition too. The only downside is that I am expecting problems with use with Bluetooth and WIDCOMM drivers. Check out http://jonsguides.com for fixes. There is now built in support for bluetooth [although lacking in some areas], which will be a relief for anyone with a MS bluetooth device who has lost their driver CD. Another great FREE release from Microsoft. Thanks.

Go ahead and install SP2 RC2 over a previous version of SP2, I dare ya'!! Sure, good update, but it doesn't update very well...

I install SP2 RC2 i have had any problem,I think mircosoft done a great job.Keep up the good work.

SP-2 is the biggest disaster I have ever seen in a software release. It totally screwed up my local network to the point that one of my computers couldn't even ping itself. It cost me an enormous loss of time and money to get it uninstalled, and then re-install and reconfigure most of my applications. I'd like to see Bill Gates go on CBS 60 Minutes and try to upgrade someone's system without technical support.

That's odd, I haven't seen any problems like this, anonymous. My home upgrade, my neighbors upgrade, my work upgrade all went flawlessly. I did have a problem on my neighbors computer with MSN9 getting confused, but I uninstalled, uninstalled msn from Sp2, reinstalled MSN9 and everything works ok.