Although a number of my peers are already testing and reviewing Windows XP Service Pack 2, I read yet another article about its upcoming release in August of this year.

I sent an e-mail to my technicians some time ago on the various new features that they could expect to contend with in the near future, some of them change the way you do business with the OS.

Allow me to share it with you...

• In retail boxes, Microsoft is enabling its revised Windows Firewall software firewall utility by default.
• Mainstream Web sites that employ unsigned ActiveX applets, downloads, pop-up windows, browser helper objects, and other code- or scripting-based functions may encounter difficulty with SP2 version IE 6.
• Internet Explorer's "Information Bar," which halts suspicious processes on a site-by-site basis, presenting options for defeating or selectively defeating IE's automatic protections
• One of the best new features of SP2's Internet Explorer is the Add-On Manager, available from the Internet Control Panel's Programs tab. It gives you a way to enable, disable, and configure ActiveX controls, browser help objects, and browser extensions.
• SP2 also provides a new Attachment Manager that works with Outlook Express, Windows Messenger, and Internet Explorer
• Internet Explorer has also been strengthened internally to thwart several specific exploits and plug a wide swatch of identified vulnerabilities.
• pop-up blocker
• Windows Security Center is a new Control Panel applet with system-tray notification whose sole purpose is to ensure that you're aware when your computer is not adequately protected by a firewall, antivirus software, and the latest Windows and IE updates.
• Microsoft makes the Automatic Updates critical security patch online updating tool more aggressive in Service Pack 2.
• Microsoft also is working on the 5.0 version of Windows Update, its Windows-updating Web site, which handles a lot more than just critical updates. It's primarily a user-interface update, but one of the underlying improvements is that you'll no longer be required to restart your computer so often after applying updates. Windows is now able to wait to install patches on the next restart. Windows Update also is now able to make incremental installs ("delta installation" in Microsoft parlance).
• Windows XP includes a new wireless LAN client that provides a much better interface designed to help you understand and work with both secured and unsecured wireless networks. There's also a new Wireless Network Setup Wizard that let's you add a wireless network to your system either with or without security.
• Microsoft has also added an enhanced Bluetooth networking stack in this service pack.

Culled from this article: Information Week

Posted by Michael at July 12, 2004 10:09 AM