Thursday, August 12

Tech Corner: Love Them Windows Service Packs!

Swell. Windows XP's Service Pack 2 is releasing August 16th, but don't be in a big hairy hurry to get it. By all accounts, you should give it a few months to iron out the bugs. And for GOD'S sake, don't automatically download it! Microsoft is regretting that little auto feature...
Microsoft to Temporarily Stop Auto-Update of SP2

Microsoft said that they will be giving customers a tool to prevent SP2 to from being automatically installed on their computer via Automatic Update or Windows Update. Microsoft originally was going to "force" the new service pack upon users but because there is so much controversy over the potential of applications no longer working after install the Service Pack, Microsoft has decide to make it a choice of the users.

"Since SP2 will start to be delivered to PCs running XP or XP with SP1 via Automatic Update starting on 16 August, these customers would like to temporarily block the delivery of SP2 in order to provide additional time for validation and testing of the update. In response to these requests, Microsoft is providing guidance, resources and communication vehicles to meet the needs of these customers." said a Microsoft spokesman.
Can we auto-download the auto-download disabler? Windows. It's not an operating system. It's an adventure.