Microsoft is finally getting their act together and doing some things that people have been after them to do for years now. Finally Microsoft has decided to listen up and take some fairly drastic steps to securing windows. We took a look into the Technical aspects of SP2 here. We also took a look at RC1. Today we'd like to dig into RC2 for SP2. Not all that much has changed since our last preview. A lot of things have been polished up, plenty of bugs squashed and DirectX 9.0C has been thrown in. If you'd like to try out DX9.0c without having to install SP2 then go here.
Microsoft has posted RC2 for download right here. This is a 264Mb network installer. The express installer is only available through Windows Update. Unlike previous builds you can no longer install this latest build over previous ones. If you're running an older build of SP2 you will have to remove it before installing this new version.
In Windows XP Service Pack 2, Microsoft is delivering several security technologies that help protect customers against malware and other risks to their computer. These technologies are not intended to replace periodic security updates as they are release, but rather to help strengthen Windows XP's overall defenses against malicious attacks.
The key components being updated:
- Network Protection
- Memory Protection
- Safer Email handling
- Enhanced Browsing Security
- Improved computer maintanence
Alot of little things have changed. Most of the people around this site that I've talked to simply say I don't like it and uninstall it rather quickly. This is something that you most likely won't like at first, but it grows on you over time. The more I use it the more I like it! On top of what I've found just by using it I read alot of Microsoft's 200 page document and gave a report here.
Microsoft is nearly finished now that it's reached its second release candidate stage. I'm writing this preview because all of the other previews out there have become rather dated from Microsoft working on things for several months. The features covered here are alot closer to the final product.
