If Microsoft Corp. possessed the panache of Apple Computer Inc., it would have named the new Windows XP operating system release after a fabulous feline, as in Jaguar or Panther, and waited for the applause from fanatically loyal users.
But we’re talking Bill Gates and workaday Windows users instead of Steve Jobs and Mac lovers, so the name is Windows XP Service Pack 2, and there’s nothing mountain-lion regal about it.
Nevertheless, if your computer runs Windows XP, and you’re connected to the Internet, SP2 will claw its way into your life.
You need it and you’re going to get it.
Believe me, this is good news for the tens of millions whose Windows XP computers have spent the past 4 years getting mugged by hackers, hijackers and high-pressure spam bombers.
SP2 is a huge, 266 megabyte patch for Windows XP that fixes a raft of security flaws in the world’s predominant personal-computer operating system. The best way by far to acquire it is to follow instructions from Microsoft to set your computer to automatically download it over time rather than trying to swallow it all at once.
To set automatic updates, right-click on the My Computer icon and select Properties in the menu. You’ll find a tab for Automatic Updates.
Microsoft recommends setting this tab to automatically download and install patches without asking. I suggest changing the setting to download the fixes but to ask for approval before installing. That way you’ll know what was being done when trouble started.
Soon, the huge SP2 file also will be ready for download or available on CDs from Microsoft. Mopes like this writer have been testing it, using versions sent out to computer-makers to install on their assembly lines. You easily can find one of these so-called RFM (released for manufacturing) files on Windows fan sites by Googling “SP2 download” or some similar keywords.
Beware, however, that there are reports that some nasty souls have posted fake versions riddled with viruses and other hacks. It’s really best to wait until it is officially ready at http://support.microsoft.com.
SP2 takes nearly a half hour to install and makes major fixes under the hood but adds few visible changes. The new plumbing fixes a passel of wrong-headed programming moves, such as the notorious ActiveX animation tools that open the door to attack the second that one first hooks up to the Internet.
Also fixed are feckless features named Remote Procedure Calls that let outsiders use Windows itself to launch attacks, such as the virulent “MSBlaster”-type worms.
Get ready for a pretty unsettling period of adjustment, because many of the invisible changes to Windows XP require users to take some kind of repair work. You can look forward to days, if not weeks, of pop-up boxes and error messages saying something else needs to be done.
Maybe as amazing as SP2 itself is the long list of programs, including many from Microsoft, that are likely to cause the patched software to display some kind of error message or request for action. The problems hit everything from AOL to Zone Alarm. Users can find links to various compatibility lists at the Microsoft support Web site.
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One reason that people will get asked to fix suddenly incompatible programs is that Windows XP now includes a proper firewall rather than the current XP firewall that can be switched on to only stop everything or else switched off to accept everything without regard to the fact that many valuable programs require exceptions.
The SP2 patch lets users add firewall exceptions, just like the popular Zone Alarm although not as sophisticated. The result, however, is users get asked a lot if they really want to let something get written onto the hard drive.
You can expect to get these unsettling security alerts until the new software is reset over time to meet your own machine’s needs and quirks.
Another huge improvement is a pop-up blocker built in to the Microsoft Internet Explorer Web browser that is part of Windows XP. This deflects the bulk of those outrageous ads that pop up at various Web sites, but it also gets triggered logging on to the likes of CNN and many banking sites that use pop-ups to serve up part of their content.
One of the things that doesn’t ring at all right with me in the SP2 follies is that Microsoft uses the update to tell users that in addition to shelling out for Windows XP, they really need to add a more costly (over time) antivirus subscription program. When you run the SP2 patches, Microsoft will check all of the software on your computer and tell you if it finds antivirus software.
It then presents a link to a list of six providers of this software designed to fix problems that Microsoft’s own software inflicts on customers. They are Computer Associates, F-Secure, McAfee, PandaSoftware, Symantec and Trend Micro.
Why, we all should ask, do we have to pay others for fixing what Microsoft can’t make right even with 266 megabytes of patches?
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Binary beat readers can participate in the column at chicagotribune.com/askjim, or e-mail [email protected]. Snail-mail him in Room 400, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611.