Compulsory SP2 after April 12?

I recently read in a German Publication that as of April 12 the
service pack 2 for windows xp will be a prerequisite to contimue
using windows update. Systems without SP2, incl. systems with only
SP1, will be forced to download patches from a MS download page and
by doing so will loose a practical way of checking which patches have
been installed when.

Is this true? And if so, will SP2 still be available under windows
update, because no MS download site offers the Service Pack 2 for
home users.

If this is true this limitation of customer's free choice is a rather
questionable way of forcing users to install a Service Pack which is
by far not free of multiple bugs and shortcommings as dozens of MS
articles prove.

Karen

Q. "I recently read in a German Publication that as of April 12 the
service pack 2 for windows xp will be a prerequisite to contimue
using windows update."

A. The information you sited is 100% false. Only those who do not
have SP1 or SP2 installed will not be able to receive future Updates.
Although SP2 will be offered as a critical update, it will not be
automatically downloaded nor installed until you accept the SP2
End-User License Agreement presented to you.

If you wish, your can order a free SP2 CD:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/d...s/default.mspx


--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User
Microsoft Newsgroups

Get Windows XP Service Pack 2 with Advanced Security Technologies:
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/secu...xp/choose.mspx

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Karen Nogan" wrote:

| I recently read in a German Publication that as of April 12 the
| service pack 2 for windows xp will be a prerequisite to contimue
| using windows update. Systems without SP2, incl. systems with only
| SP1, will be forced to download patches from a MS download page and
| by doing so will loose a practical way of checking which patches have
| been installed when.
|
| Is this true? And if so, will SP2 still be available under windows
| update, because no MS download site offers the Service Pack 2 for
| home users.
|
| If this is true this limitation of customer's free choice is a rather
| questionable way of forcing users to install a Service Pack which is
| by far not free of multiple bugs and shortcommings as dozens of MS
| articles prove.
|
| Karen

Your condescending post "carelessly" fails to mention that the
automatic-download blocker for SP2, which is a known source of many horrible
system problems, will no longer work as of April 12. Bravo, Microsoft
associate. -Jeff

"Carey Frisch [MVP]" wrote:

> Q. "I recently read in a German Publication that as of April 12 the
> service pack 2 for windows xp will be a prerequisite to contimue
> using windows update."
>
> A. The information you sited is 100% false. Only those who do not
> have SP1 or SP2 installed will not be able to receive future Updates.
> Although SP2 will be offered as a critical update, it will not be
> automatically downloaded nor installed until you accept the SP2
> End-User License Agreement presented to you.
>
> If you wish, your can order a free SP2 CD:
> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/d...s/default.mspx
>
>
> --
> Carey Frisch
> Microsoft MVP
> Windows XP - Shell/User
> Microsoft Newsgroups
>
> Get Windows XP Service Pack 2 with Advanced Security Technologies:
> http://www.microsoft.com/athome/secu...xp/choose.mspx
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> "Karen Nogan" wrote:
>
> | I recently read in a German Publication that as of April 12 the
> | service pack 2 for windows xp will be a prerequisite to contimue
> | using windows update. Systems without SP2, incl. systems with only
> | SP1, will be forced to download patches from a MS download page and
> | by doing so will loose a practical way of checking which patches have
> | been installed when.
> |
> | Is this true? And if so, will SP2 still be available under windows
> | update, because no MS download site offers the Service Pack 2 for
> | home users.
> |
> | If this is true this limitation of customer's free choice is a rather
> | questionable way of forcing users to install a Service Pack which is
> | by far not free of multiple bugs and shortcommings as dozens of MS
> | articles prove.
> |
> | Karen
>

180 million Windows XP users have successfully installed SP2. That fact is
not indicative of "horrible system problems" you "carelessly" suggest. By far,
SP2 is the most tested, secure, rock-solid service pack release ever!
Every major computer manufacturer is now installing SP2 when
Windows XP is selected as the much preferred operating system.

Learn More About Service Pack 2
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/default.mspx

What to Know Before You Download and Install Windows XP Service Pack 2
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/s...hattoknow.mspx

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User
Microsoft Newsgroups

Get Windows XP Service Pack 2 with Advanced Security Technologies:
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/secu...xp/choose.mspx

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Jeff Varszegi" carelessly wrote:

| Your condescending post "carelessly" fails to mention that the
| automatic-download blocker for SP2, which is a known source of many horrible
| system problems, will no longer work as of April 12. Bravo, Microsoft
| associate. -Jeff

All you have to do is go to Google and search on "XP SP2 crash" and you will
see what I'm talking about. Many people on this newsgroup have either
experienced crashes, or know someone who has. In addition, Microsoft
marketing numbers are always suspect, and thus this 180 million number is
suspect. SP2 is buggy software; hence the many problems. Do the search. (I
wouldn't expect a Microsoft MVP to agree with me, but the information is out
there for anyone else.) -Jeff

"Carey Frisch [MVP]" wrote:

> 180 million Windows XP users have successfully installed SP2. That fact is
> not indicative of "horrible system problems" you "carelessly" suggest. By far,
> SP2 is the most tested, secure, rock-solid service pack release ever!
> Every major computer manufacturer is now installing SP2 when
> Windows XP is selected as the much preferred operating system.
>
> Learn More About Service Pack 2
> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/default.mspx
>
> What to Know Before You Download and Install Windows XP Service Pack 2
> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/s...hattoknow.mspx
>
> --
> Carey Frisch
> Microsoft MVP
> Windows XP - Shell/User
> Microsoft Newsgroups
>
> Get Windows XP Service Pack 2 with Advanced Security Technologies:
> http://www.microsoft.com/athome/secu...xp/choose.mspx
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> "Jeff Varszegi" carelessly wrote:
>
> | Your condescending post "carelessly" fails to mention that the
> | automatic-download blocker for SP2, which is a known source of many horrible
> | system problems, will no longer work as of April 12. Bravo, Microsoft
> | associate. -Jeff
>
>

By the way, the fact remains that yours is a 100% bad answer to the OP's
question (in addition to containing grammar and spelling erros); it is both
condescending and misleading. Here is a sample GOOD answer:


Q. "I recently read in a German Publication that as of April 12 the
service pack 2 for windows xp will be a prerequisite to contimue
using windows update."

A. On April 12th, only those who do not
have SP1 or SP2 installed will not be able to receive future updates.
Although SP2 will be offered as a critical update, it will not be
automatically downloaded nor installed until you accept the SP2
End-User License Agreement. However, the automatic blocking of the
SP2 download will fail to work on this date, forcing you to continue over and
over again to reject the download; perhaps this is the information to which
you are referring.


"Carey Frisch [MVP]" wrote:

> Q. "I recently read in a German Publication that as of April 12 the
> service pack 2 for windows xp will be a prerequisite to contimue
> using windows update."
>
> A. The information you sited is 100% false. Only those who do not
> have SP1 or SP2 installed will not be able to receive future Updates.
> Although SP2 will be offered as a critical update, it will not be
> automatically downloaded nor installed until you accept the SP2
> End-User License Agreement presented to you.
>
> If you wish, your can order a free SP2 CD:
> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/d...s/default.mspx
>
>
> --
> Carey Frisch
> Microsoft MVP
> Windows XP - Shell/User
> Microsoft Newsgroups
>
> Get Windows XP Service Pack 2 with Advanced Security Technologies:
> http://www.microsoft.com/athome/secu...xp/choose.mspx
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> "Karen Nogan" wrote:
>
> | I recently read in a German Publication that as of April 12 the
> | service pack 2 for windows xp will be a prerequisite to contimue
> | using windows update. Systems without SP2, incl. systems with only
> | SP1, will be forced to download patches from a MS download page and
> | by doing so will loose a practical way of checking which patches have
> | been installed when.
> |
> | Is this true? And if so, will SP2 still be available under windows
> | update, because no MS download site offers the Service Pack 2 for
> | home users.
> |
> | If this is true this limitation of customer's free choice is a rather
> | questionable way of forcing users to install a Service Pack which is
> | by far not free of multiple bugs and shortcommings as dozens of MS
> | articles prove.
> |
> | Karen
>

The words "many", "crashes", "buggy" are all vague generalizations.
Of course people have some issues, that's why they post questions
to a support newsgroup. Nine times out of ten, the problems lie with
an operation system that has been compromised. Do you honestly
think Microsoft would have released SP2 if it hadn't been extensively
tested, time and time again, on hundreds of thousands of various PCs,
by independent testers?

You can Google all you want until the Gateway cows come home, about
issues with every product ever produced, from software to ketchup!

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User
Microsoft Newsgroups

Get Windows XP Service Pack 2 with Advanced Security Technologies:
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/secu...xp/choose.mspx

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Jeff Varszegi" wrote:

| All you have to do is go to Google and search on "XP SP2 crash" and you will
| see what I'm talking about. Many people on this newsgroup have either
| experienced crashes, or know someone who has. In addition, Microsoft
| marketing numbers are always suspect, and thus this 180 million number is
| suspect. SP2 is buggy software; hence the many problems. Do the search. (I
| wouldn't expect a Microsoft MVP to agree with me, but the information is out
| there for anyone else.) -Jeff

Karen;
Apparently that publication is guilty of bad journalism.
SP-2 will not be forced on any computer.
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/forcesp2.htm

--
Jupiter Jones [MVP]
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar
In memory of our dear friend, MVP Alex Nichol
http://www.dts-l.org


"Karen Nogan" <> wrote in message
news:d2ma98$or1$...
>I recently read in a German Publication that as of April 12 the
> service pack 2 for windows xp will be a prerequisite to contimue
> using windows update. Systems without SP2, incl. systems with only
> SP1, will be forced to download patches from a MS download page and
> by doing so will loose a practical way of checking which patches have
> been installed when.
>
> Is this true? And if so, will SP2 still be available under windows
> update, because no MS download site offers the Service Pack 2 for
> home users.
>
> If this is true this limitation of customer's free choice is a rather
> questionable way of forcing users to install a Service Pack which is
> by far not free of multiple bugs and shortcommings as dozens of MS
> articles prove.
>
> Karen
>