Wednesday, July 07, 2004

XP Service Pack 2 to Skip Older Windows, for Now

XP Service Pack 2 to Skip Older Windows, for Now "Microsoft Corp. has no plans to port the security and feature enhancements due in Windows XP Service Pack 2, now in final beta testing, to older versions of Windows.
The decision means that enterprises running older versions of Windows will be less secure and more vulnerable to attacks than those running XP systems that upgrade to the latest service pack, which includes many security improvements.
Microsoft officials in Redmond, Wash., last week said the company's focus is on shipping a high-quality SP2 release to customers. It is, however, leaving the door open to supporting older versions and is evaluating the technical feasibility of such an endeavor."
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"Other users, however, are not as concerned. Charles Reid, project manager for iNet-Consulting. com Inc., in Los Angeles, said that he believes operating systems such as Windows 98 are inherently insecure and that he would much rather see Microsoft spend resources supporting current and future product releases rather than older ones.
"If customers want more secure systems, then upgrade," Reid said. "The user community is better off if organizations like Microsoft are constantly moving ahead instead of trying to go back at the same time."

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