Larry Barnes wrote in part:
> So, now I now what MS means by "quality software"
> and they must not have very high QC criteria,
> unless they've re-defined/invented that too.
I was disappointed that the article did not explain the delay. I've been to
one of MS's roadshows for SP2, and it has some compelling features. Some of
the issues they have addressed seemed like rather fine distinctions. But MS
apparently cares about these distinctions, and took seriously some of the
audience feedback.

There are a couple of issues that shops with XP workstations should
consider. The firewall, turned on by default in SP2, will "break" some apps,
such as IM. I can already hear the help desk phone ringing. The argument is
that those apps that get broken were doing things without due regard to
security (Art, back me up here...). And, as someone who only recently
started to use IM (MSN: g9789279127, AIM and Y!: gregstigers) I would not
want inbound IM traffic to reach my workstation, unless I am running IM. In
fact, ideally, I don't want a firewall to allow inbound IM traffic unless I
am running my IM client, and am available.

Another issue is the size of SP2. Apparently, MS has taken the trouble to
shrink the footprint. At the roadshow, the release candidate was close to
300MB. What will happen in your shop if, on the release date, starting about
8AM, all your XP workstations are running Automatic Update, and start to
download nearly 300MB from Microsoft.com? Time to look at SUS / WUS or other
strategies. But, if the Yahoo! article is accurate, MS has shrunk SP2 to
92MB for XP Pro. Still, that merits some planning.

Greg Stigers, MCSA
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