Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Microsoft Windows XP -- Service Pack 2 preview

tritium · 01-06-2004, 11:08 PM

http://www.arstechnica.com/wankerdes...p2-beta-1.html

I didn't copy and paste it all. There's a lot more at the above mentioned site. The firewall updates look promising. Wish the whole thing didn't weigh 222MB though.
Wait! A built in popup killer! Un-friggin-believable! Yehaw! Welcome to the party, Microsoft. Nice of you to tune in ... finally.
Here's to hope for a better XP! Huzzah! Huzzah!

Quote:

Windows XP Service Pack 2 Beta first look
by Kurt Hutchinson

A preoccupation with security

If there is one thing Microsoft is preoccupied with right now, it would have to be security. Microsoft is in the news more for security problems with Windows (whether fairly or not) than any other issue. With other operating systems such as Mac OS X (Panther) and Linux (Kernel 2.6) getting significant updates, some are wondering, what Microsoft is up to? A few months ago, developers were given a preview to Microsoft Windows Longhorn. Longhorn is still at least two years away, leaving the rest of us who use the currently-available Windows XP wondering what the next big XP update will hold.

Microsoft has taken the wraps off of Service Pack 2 for Windows XP. At first thought, one might think "big deal — Service Packs from Microsoft are generally bug squashers." Things are different this time. Service Pack 2 addresses security concerns, fixes previous security issues, and implements new security features. In case you are slow on the uptake, Windows XP Service Pack 2 is all about security.

Wireless support
Microsoft tweaked the zeroconf Wireless tool for service pack2. I didn’t realize it was changed until I looked at my taskbar and noticed the new icon.

Taskbar icon
With such a subtle taskbar change I wasn’t prepared for an all-new interface.

Wireless connection interface
This interface in my opinion is a huge improvement over the original. It is much more informative without the typical Microsoft clutter. From this panel you can adjust the settings of your wireless network.

Not much has changed. There is one new tab though:

Automatic connections
The Automatic Connection feature seems like it could come in handy in areas with a high concentration of wireless networks.

Windows Update
Service Pack 2 marks a change in Microsoft's strategy with regard to Windows Update. It is a tad more annoying now, and perhaps that is a good thing. For starters, the web interface (linked for size) has received a facelift for those using SP 2. There are now two options. Using the Express option, Windows Update searches for and installs critical updates. The Custom Installation allows for the installation of optional components as well as the critical updates.

After making your selection, Windows Update will then download and install your selected updates.

Downloading updates

Depending on the update your system may or may not need restarting. I suspect that restarts will be necessary throughout XP’s lifetime. Windows Server 2003 and Windows Longhorn may prove to be different in that regard. If your update does require a restart, SP2 beta will not let you forget about it. Even if you select "Restart Later", SP2 will keep popping up like an impatient child in the backseat and asking if it is time yet.

Windows Update also has a few other options that are new. Other improvements include Smart Downloading, which allows for resuming of downloads; a smarter method of updating, which will allow you to apply the newest update that is applicable for your computer; and an ability to select all patches with just one click.

Internet Explorer and Outlook Express
Internet Explorer has laid mostly dormant since reaching Version 6 in 2001. Its rendering engine has been used with newer wrappers which have provided users with additional security features and tabbed browsing. However, the average user is not going to go out of their way to find a new browser and is likely to stick with whatever his PC came with. So finally, Microsoft has addressed some oft-repeated requests. First up is the pop-up blocker. In my eyes this is huge, and is is one area that many users are going to appreciate. When you stumble on a site with a pop-up, IE plays a gentle tone and then displays an icon in its status bar.

If you want to view the pop-up you can click on that icon and then you are presented with these options.

System-level protection
The largest problem that the Windows NT-based OSes have had are their susceptibility to buffer-overrun attacks. Now, the RPC mechanism in Service Pack 2 has been overhauled. No longer does it live with complete privileges and with the default firewall behavior RPC will no longer be as great a target. After the chaos that Blaster and friends wreaked with RPC, this is a good move for Microsoft. With improvements in Microsoft’s compiler a lot of the OS’s core components will be recompiled to help protect against buffer overruns.

One major change in the core is the addition of support for hardware-enforced no-execute. CPUs that support this feature can protect application code from data, which will help prevent attacks from viruses that work by attacking memory marked for data.

Execution protection
Unfortunately the only known XP-compatible processors that support this feature are the Athlon 64/Opteron family.

Conclusion
This release has been remarkably stable, and from my usage I am impressed with the effort Microsoft has made in this release towards solving some of the security problems that have bedeviled the OS.

In terms of new and improved features, Microsoft has focused in on the five areas covered above. First off, the built-in firewall has received a number of improvements. The one new feature that might tweak some users is the firewall being enabled by default. Be that as it may, I believe it is a significant improvement, which had it been done before, would have helped to mask many of the glaring deficiencies within the previous iterations of Windows XP. Also, the firewall is now more aggressive with the opening and closing of ports.

The improvements to Windows Update are also very encouraging. With SP2, Windows Update is more persistent about necessary reboots while being more efficient in patching. The wireless zero-configuration utility received little more than a facelift, but its better organization is a welcome change....