NEW XP SP3

[Conflow]

Hi All

Here we go again.

Part.2.

..."Both XP-Sp3 Update -and- Vista-Sp1 Update have been suspended"... 29/4/08

As you know I have always maintained that Vista is a 'Business Operating System' and it

was never designed to serve the 'Public Consumer Market' ~ well, thats now confirmed.

Both the XP-Sp3 and Vista-Sp1 Upgrades have been suspended for the time being due to

a serious 'incompatibility-issue' with a component part of Vista which they are trying to put

into both Upgrades which means they very much intend to change XP as we now know it !

Its called: RMS, or its full title is "Dynamic Retail Marketing Services" which is a part of 'Vista

Business'. It was designed for 'Small/Large Retail Business' with 'Auto-Links' to Web Servers

and Lan Networks, whereby Vista could auto-update these Utilities directly,on demand.

By the same token it means that Microsoft (or anyone) can drop 'Tracking-Cookies' on to your

PC, without your knowledge, to sell to you ~ or see ~ what your Browsing habits are..Legally so,

because you 'agreed' to their Licence Agreement. (Can it be switched off - thats the question)

So what else is going to come out of the wood-work ?

Brian.Conflow.

'Attachments' and 'Links' below will give you all the details.

__________________________________________________________________________

Part.1.

Advanced warning of a 'New XP Service Pak 3' about to hit your XP-Computers. 26/4/08

The upgrade re-writes major elements of the 'Core-Kernel' of XP-Computers excepting x64.

It will over-write many existing 'Upgrades' into one homogenous File and re-write the existing

'Security' algorithms cleaning up the fragmented Files existing and deleting obselete Files.

Additional 'Data-Management-Elements' from Vista are to be incorporated. There will be major

changes to 'Internet-Explorer 6' tightening up on Web-Security and in particular blocking unsigned

'Drop-Sites' (what this alludes to is uncertain) and its claimed to increase PC.Speed by 10%.

Warning: XP Service Pak-1 must be pre-installed on the PC to avoid Installation failure.

1st Update today 26/4/08 13:00------2nd Update today 30/4/08 11:30

___________________________________________________________________________

Link to Full Article:-

http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=1368&tag=nl.e589

[Lin Evans]

Hi Brian,

I think that's one I'll opt out of. The question is whether they will try to bypass the "auto updates off" switch.

Best regards,

Lin

[Conflow]

Hi Lin,

As you know, I try to keep Members up to date with this type of "News" as I'm in a position

to know about these things. Pesonally speaking from my past experiences I have learnt to be

aware of the "Steel Fist in the Kid Gloove" and when it comes to money,there are no morals

in large Corporations.

Like you, I have turned off the 'Auto-Update Swtch' and I will shall wait for the debris to fall

from the Sky before I turn it back on.

Regards,

Brian.

[Ken Cox]

see

http://www.windowsnewsletter.com/current-issue.html

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...;displaylang=en

ken

[jevans]

Hi Brian,

Good advice as always. Glad we have got you watching out for us. I subscribe to an ezine "Windows Secrets" which always advises a short wait before installing any of Microsoft system upgrades until there has been some experience of their effects. I have my "updates" setting set to "notify but do not download or install".

Whilst there does not seem to be anything in SP3 for the normal home user and thus suggesting that we should avoid upgrading, I wonder whether not installing this upgrade might have an adverse effect on future upgrades for XP SP2? Any ideas ?

Jeff

[Lin Evans]

Hi Jeff,

There won't "be" any future updates for SP2 because this SP3 supercedes, overwrites and essentially "replaces" SP2.

Microsoft is essentially "killing" XP because they wan't people to buy Vista. They are doing everything possible to make XP "into" Vista - LOL. Unfortunately the real world for the most part want's nothing to do with Vista. You should read the comments following this link per the article written by PC Mag Editor John Dvorak

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2286065,00.asp

Lin

Hi Brian,

Good advice as always. Glad we have got you watching out for us. I subscribe to an ezine "Windows Secrets" which always advises a short wait before installing any of Microsoft system upgrades until there has been some experience of their effects. I have my "updates" setting set to "notify but do not download or install".

Whilst there does not seem to be anything in SP3 for the normal home user and thus suggesting that we should avoid upgrading, I wonder whether not installing this upgrade might have an adverse effect on future upgrades for XP SP2? Any ideas ?

Jeff

[Conflow]

Lin,

And the 'rationale' for that is seen in the thread..."Windows XP"...

Brian.

[jevans]

Hi Lin,

Sorry did not express myself very well. What I meant was - if you do not install SP3, all future updates (if there are going to be any) may be dependent on whether you have installed SP3. That's what seems to have happened with SP1. So by not installing SP3 you may not be able to have any further updates to XP.

Jeff

[Conflow]

Jeff,

The requirement is that 'Service Pak-1' must be on the PC as a pre-requisite to installing Sp2 or Sp3.

Once Sp1 is there ~ Sp3 will be installed by default.

If Sp2 is there ~ then Sp3 will re-write it up to Sp3 Specifications.

I'm not aware of any future Service-Paks in the pipeline for XP.

Brian.

[Davidh12]

Brian

Maybe what Jeff was meaning and it had crossed my mind too, was if you don't install SP3 then you wont have access to any new patches like security etc. Do you know if it will still be possible to install future security patches if you don't install SP3?

David

[Lin Evans]

Hi David,

Probably not. That is if you don't install SP3 you will likely have no access to "any" new patches.

But consider this: there are people all over the world still using Windows 98, ME, etc., who have no access to "security patches" and have not had for an extended period. Like most they rely on third party security such as AVG, NOD32, Pareto Logic, etc., etc., which have proven to be "far" more effective than anything Microsoft has produced in terms of "security". Microsoft has proven to be "reactive" while companies who specialize in security are "proactive".

Of course there are a variety of opinions on this but my positions is that Microsoft's motives for this upgrade are highly suspicious. My SP2 of Windows XP works just fine and I'm protected both by hardware firewall via my router and Microsoft's own software firewall. I have sufficient third party virus and threat protection software to insure reasonable protection and see absolutely no reason to allow a major change to my operating system to make it more like the operating system I try to avoid like the plague.

My positions is that for my purposes I see Vista not as an "upgrade" as Microsoft views it, but for me a "downgrade" causing slower operation, slower boot up and shut-down, intrusive "phone home" privacy invasion - unwanted "nanny" features, a resource hog and generally offering me no value but causing me lots of "headaches".

I'll gladly trade whatever "security" risks I might be protected from with this new controversial SP3 for the lack of intrusion and bloat provided by leaving things status quo.

Best regards,

Lin

Brian

Maybe what Jeff was meaning and it had crossed my mind too, was if you don't install SP3 then you wont have access to any new patches like security etc. Do you know if it will still be possible to install future security patches if you don't install SP3?

David

[xahu34]

David,

it is very likely that in a year or two security patches will only be available for Win XP with SP3. Example: Looking at "Bulletin MS08-020" (Vulnerability in DNS Client Could Allow Spoofing (945553)), published April 8th, you see that a patch is only available for XP with SP2, not for XP with SP1.

Best regards

Xaver

Munich

[Conflow]

David & Jeff, Lin and Xaver,

I simply don't know the answer to Jeffs question. Xaver is correct about SP1, but lets not forget that

Sp1 was on the verge of total collapse with Hacker attacks, and of absolute necessity it needed to be

totally overwritten with Sp2 which provided the Firewall and many essential extras. In fact we got a

New Operating System for nothing.

The same can't be said for XP-Sp2:- Its rock steady, it works well, it has a good Firewall, and

its fairly 'bullet-proof' and has been well patched and can be 'recovered' from System crash easily.

For those reasons alone, I can't understand why they want to go "messing" about with Xp2 ~ sure

it could do with a bit of House-Keeping but not the radical surgery they intend to do (and thats

been well played down), and what worries me most...I can't get the details of that proposed surgery.

It's about all I can say,

Brian.Conflow.

[Davidh12]

Lin & Xaver

Thanks for the reply and the advice. Looks like I will be sticking with XP as it is then. I have that on the desk top with Vista on the lap-top which although a higher spec machine I don't use that much, only to feed a projector. Thanks too to Brian and those members who keep us up to date with what's going on. Great forum this.

David

[jevans]

Lin, Brian,

Thanks for comments and advice. I agree with you Lin and from now on will switch of automatic updates completely as you have suggested in another thread.

Jeff

[Barry Beckham]

Dear Claire

I have a serious problem and don't know where to turn. I don't do technical very well and that is why I buy software to take care of all that mumbo jumbo for me. I prefer to use my time producing images, slide shows, running my web site, listening to music, etc etc.

Can you tell me what is wrong with my Vista busines Operating System. The reason I ask is that it appears to do all I want it to do. I can use Photoshop, create slide shows, surf the net, send emails etc etc, it never crashes, it has the odd wobble, but is that Vista, my PC componants or the tons of software I have piled onto my machine. However, all advice tells me I should avoid Vista like the plague and I am now very confused.

If I was the worrying kind I could become suicidal reading about the dreads of Vista. I suppose I should start to worry that any day now it will all implode on me and I will lose all my work.

Should I format without delay and get out my original copy of Windows XP and begin installing it, or perhaps see if my Windows 95 disk still works.

Confused of Ely

[Lin Evans]

Hi Barry,

LOL - the important thing is that it works for you. Many others have had nightmares with Vista ranging from loosing work when Vista's defaults set by an administrator stop the user in the middle of an operation to perform an "update" to sluggish boot and shut down with almost double the time of XP, incompatibilities with software (have you tried to install Photoshop CS on your Vista computer?), incompatibilities with hardware, certain printer drivers (HP) causing the need to totally reload the operating system multiple times because they totally take down Vista which returns a "missing file" error and "requires" a total reload of the OS, the behind the scenes "phone home" which is part of the slowness of boot, the nanny DRM issues, etc., etc.

If you only use Vista "compatible" software, don't use a lot of different software and don't have incompatible drivers, hardware, etc., then Vista may be great for you. On the other hand if you are one of the thousands and thousands who have been plagued by these issues you will understand the reluctance to change from something which "works" with the majority of the kinks ironed out to what amounts to a beta software which you as the uncompensated beta tester who actually pays for the priviledge of doing this for Microsoft.

Read this link for more in-depth analysis from one of the Editors of PC Magazine. Also following read the forum comments:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2286065,00.asp

Best regards,

Lin

[xahu34]

Hello,

I don't think that the PTE forum is then right place to discuss the question of using SP3 for XP or not. What I see here is in my eyes a trace of propaganda rather than knowledge based on experience. We should wait and see how the roll out of SP3 will look like, see how SP3 will be analyzed in the press, and have a look at the policies of big companies. Then we can make our decisions.

Let's drink a cup of tea and avoid hysteria.

Best regards

Xaver

Munich

[Davidh12]

Dear Confused of Ely

Don't worry yourself my love. If it works for you just do it. Don't worry what the other boys say.

I use Vista as well with no problems on my lap top its just I know someone, we'll call him Mr desktop who feels terribly inadequate he can't run Vista and is rather worried what they plan to do to his XP.

Claire

[Lin Evans]

Hi Xaver,

Propaganda or not aside, if "Auto-update" is left at the as-shipped defaults, people won't have a chance to wait and see how SP3 will be analyzed in the press. We owe it to the forum readers to make them aware of the possible implications of not turning off auto-update or at least setting it to one of the "option" modes because there really is no going back for most without a complete system reload from an non-OEM XP disc and extensive reloads of SP2, etc., if it's then even still available.

Best regards,

Lin

[xahu34]

Hello Lin,

I agree that users should take care in making their decision on SP3 (provided that they are in the position to do it at all). What I do not like is the way, the subject is discussed here. The discussion is restricted on particular aspects, and it runs on an emotional level, which is in my eyes by no means appropriate.

Best regards

Xaver

Munich

[Lin Evans]

Hi Xaver,

I can't say I agree that the discussion is run on an emotional level, just not filled with statistics which would be boring to most. Barry is expressing his experience in a satire and I'm relating my experiences with a link to a well-respected PC Magazine Editor's experience and a lengthy forum discussion from users of both operating systems. Brian is relating his experience and opinions based on what he does professionally.

The readers are free to form their own views based on their personal experiences and the shared experiences of people whom they trust to provide them with relatively unbiased information. Obviously, we all formulate our opinions based on our experiences. To confine our statements to rather dry statistics might be much less interesting. No one is "restricting" the aspects of the discussion so feel free to provide your own input.

The important thing, as I see it, is that people are presented with both sides of a discussion so they can make informed decisions about something which "may" affect the way PTE or the tools on which they run PTE performs for them - nothing more.

Best regards,

Lin

[cjdnzl]

Hello all,

Well, regardless of whether the posts above are technical. emotional, scare-mongering, satirical, whatever, the point for me is that we are alerted to the fact that XP3 is coming. What we do about it is up to our individual reaction, but we have been warned, and forewarned is forearmed.

This one of the absolute strengths of forums like this; the collective knowledge of the whole is greater than one could ever achieve singly.

Colin

[jfa]

Hy everyone it's time for a stiff drink and a good lay down.

Just turn off Automatic Updates then go to the update site when you want and do a manual update, selecting the updates you want and rejecting the ones you don't. I will be rejecting SP3 for sometime until the smoke clears and I see the effects it has. This is the way I have always used the update function and it has been successful for me.

I don't like anyone telling me how I must use/run my PC weather it's using software I don't want or need, changing my screen size or interfering with the operating system.

[Barry Beckham]

John

Now your talking.

Make mine something strong