Well, to keep things interesting and so folks can look under the Hood, here's a blatant article theft from slashdot. well the web page ref anyway. Here's a list of the Bug Fixes as released by MS, itself.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kbEN-US811113
Knowledgebase Article #811113 (warning the list is extensive)

Each Item links back to anothe KB Article. Now from working at MS myself I know, there are a bazillion KB articles, that the average user does not see. These are used as internal refferences for problem solution and they do not get published to the External KB dbase, until they go through an edit, testing and review by several employees. The other neat thing is that it seems alot of those annoying "do you want to send report" messages folks get when something crashes, might actually be doing something.

"The page you were looking for is currently not available. The address may not be correct, or there may be a temporary problem with this site."

That's because the URL got parsed by the WC filter.

The real URL is: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;811113

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Hmmm that was weird... Thanks paxx.

Thanks! Very useful information indeed. I have updated to Sp2 and everything seems to function perfectly on my system, though it's a bit early to jump to conclusions. I just wish the ones shouting the loudest, would take time to check out this list... but that's propably too much to ask.

I had problems with msn but most of the time if an app isnt working properly after the upgrade just uninstall and reinstall and then it should work.

Here's the Newest Discovery For XPSP2.
Researchers spot XP SP2 security weakness
"IE drag and drop feature could be exploited by hackers
Iain Thomson, vnunet.com 20 Aug 2004

Security researchers believe they have discovered a weakness in the new security given to Windows XP by the recently unveiled Service Pack 2 (SP2).

Since XP SP2 was released, activists have been searching for weaknesses in the security-focused service pack. Microsoft yesterday dismissed claims by German researchers to already have discovered a flaw.

Now a group has claimed that exploit code could bypass the new security procedures in XP by using the 'drag and drop' features of Internet Explorer."


http://www.vnunet.com/news/1157493
Full Story Link

Hmmm, I've got a NAT enabled router, ZoneAlarm, AdAware SE, AVG, Mozilla Firefox, Mozilla Thunderbird, ISP enabled web-mail, Mailwasher...

Is there anything else in SP2 besides security fixes for IE and OE?

Use script to block Windows XP SP2 updates: Microsoft
http://www.itnews.com.au/storycontent.asp?ID=17&Art_ID=21201

"Microsoft has offered yet another way for businesses to block the Automatic Update of Windows XP to the big-deal SP2 upgrade.

The developer posted a copy-and-paste script to its TechNet http://www.microsoft.com/technet/default.mspx
website that lets administrators block or unblock specific PCs from receiving SP2 via Windows Automatic Update or the Windows Update website. "

Windows update harbors AMD conflict
By Matt Hines
CNET News.com
August 27, 2004, 11:43 AM PT

A problem in the Service Pack 2 update for Windows XP may keep owners of AMD-based computers from using the long-awaited security package, according to Microsoft.

In an article posted in the Knowledge Base section of its Web site, Microsoft says that Service Pack 2 may not work with computers running Advanced Micro Devices' 64-bit microprocessors. The Redmond, Wash.-based company says owners of such PCs may want to bypass the update completely.

KBase Article link
http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fsupport.microsoft.com%2Fdefault.aspx%3Fscid%3Dkb%3Ben-us%3B878474&siteId=2&oId=2100-1103-5326707&ontId=11&lop=nl_ex

You know what is really funny about the SP@ update? they updated IE security wise and added the pop-up blocker as part of it but I wonder... just wonder now, if they will ever allow PNG support?

My husband and I have twin comps set up exactly the same, behind a hardware firewall. He installed SP2 I didn't. Guess who has spent this entire weekend digging SP2 out of his machine? (and swearing a lot)
We have ZoneAlarm, McAfee, router duel layered. MailWasher (OMG get this program for stopping spam before it gets to you, it rocks) Google bar and half a dozen spy ware blasters and cleaners. No one ever gets to our comps throught the firewall EXCEPT MSN who hi-jacks my browser on a regular basis.
I'll upgrade to SP2 when a certain hot spot freezes over.

SP@ = SP2

the windowsxp built in firewall is actually better than zonealarm, norton internet security, and the mcafee thing by where it sits in relation to winsock.

a: not as hostile with blocking/constant popups with applications (ie: do you wanna allow this? 43 thousand times)

b: less issues with trying to install/uninstall some of this crap (norton internet security is seriously one of the most harrowing uninstall processes i've ever seen)

c: more user intuitive (simple dialogues in comparison to the rest)

d: did i mention winsock? yep, NIS/ZA/McAfee don't protect it.

I have had it installed for weeks with out any issues. Everyone in my organizationEvery one of my apps runs fine. I have Norton Internet Security which Nortons patched to work just fine with SP2. All of my development, games and productivity apps all run perfectly. When anything is released by Microsoft, the anti MS fools use it to scare the naïve. They are getting almost as bad as the evening news with sensationalizing crap… “When spit balls kill.. Tonight on the evening news”.
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