Joshua
10-31-2003, 09:34 PM
Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) is still due in the first half of
2004, but Microsoft this week revealed exactly what's going into the
oft-delayed collection of security patches. XP SP2 will ship with all
XP security features enabled by default (what a concept), meaning that
the Internet Connection Firewall (ICF) will be on, and the Windows
Messenger service will be off. XP SP2 will also include new features
that will let developers write applications that more safely handle
email attachments, and Microsoft will release new versions of
Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE), Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express,
and Windows Messenger that take advantage of this technology. IE will
be locked down in a manner similar to, but not as restrictive as, the
IE version in Windows Server 2003. The company is also reducing XP's
susceptibility to buffer-overrun errors, which worms and viruses
commonly exploit, by adding support for new code execution features
available on newer Intel and AMD processors. Finally, Microsoft is
enabling the automatic download and installation of critical security
hotfixes on XP SP2, ensuring that users' systems are always protected.
That's a bunch of updates, and it all explains what's taking so long
with the release of XP SP2. My only question: Why didn't Microsoft
give us this information when it released the SP2 road map?
2004, but Microsoft this week revealed exactly what's going into the
oft-delayed collection of security patches. XP SP2 will ship with all
XP security features enabled by default (what a concept), meaning that
the Internet Connection Firewall (ICF) will be on, and the Windows
Messenger service will be off. XP SP2 will also include new features
that will let developers write applications that more safely handle
email attachments, and Microsoft will release new versions of
Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE), Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express,
and Windows Messenger that take advantage of this technology. IE will
be locked down in a manner similar to, but not as restrictive as, the
IE version in Windows Server 2003. The company is also reducing XP's
susceptibility to buffer-overrun errors, which worms and viruses
commonly exploit, by adding support for new code execution features
available on newer Intel and AMD processors. Finally, Microsoft is
enabling the automatic download and installation of critical security
hotfixes on XP SP2, ensuring that users' systems are always protected.
That's a bunch of updates, and it all explains what's taking so long
with the release of XP SP2. My only question: Why didn't Microsoft
give us this information when it released the SP2 road map?