Microsoft Lists Apps Affected by XP SP2
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In an effort to head off support calls, Microsoft has published a list of about 50 programs from both the Redmond software giant and third-party software vendors that require tweaking in order to work properly with Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2). Among the applications that are encountering problems are Web servers, remote desktops, file-sharing applications, FTP clients, multimedia streaming software and e-mail notifications. A number of systems-management applications and games also require manual modifications in order to work properly with SP2, according to Microsoft. "After you install Windows XP SP2, client applications may not successfully receive data from a server," acknowledges Microsoft in one of its Knowledge Base articles published to its Web site. At the same time, some "server applications that are running on a Windows XP SP2-based computer may not respond to client requests," the Knowledge Base article added. In the months leading up to the recent launch of its SP2 collection of security updates and other fixes, Microsoft had warned its customers that a number of its own applications would require modification in order to work correctly with SP2. Microsoft officials have warned that SQL Server 2000, Microsoft CRM 1.2 and Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer 1.2 all would require tweaks. In the recently published Knowledge Base article, Microsoft also admits that its Visual Studio .Net development tools and Systems Management Server 2003 products may require users to open network ports manually before they work properly with SP2. "To work correctly, some programs and games must receive information over the network. The information enters your computer through an inbound port. For (the new SP2) Windows Firewall to permit this information to enter, the correct inbound port must be open on your computer," Microsoft notes in its Knowledge Base article. Other third-party programs which may require users to open ports manually in order to work with SP2 include: Among the third-party games that may require SP2 tweaks are several products from Atari, Electronic Arts' "Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 2," and Activision's Star Trek StarFleet Command III version 1.0. There are other third-party applications that are encountering difficulties with SP2 that are not included on Microsoft's Knowledge Base list. While Microsoft is characterizing SP2 as a "critical" upgrade and encouraging all XP users to upgrade to it as soon as possible, many IT managers are holding off from pushing SP2 to users' desktops until they are able to thoroughly test its effect on custom and third-party applications. Last week, Microsoft published a toolkit allowing IT managers to temporarily block SP2 from installing before they are ready for it. Microsoft is rolling out XP SP2 in stages. On August 16, Microsoft is set to begin pushing SP2 to XP users automatically via its Automatic Update and Software Update Services patch-management services. Microsoft already has made the update available to customers who had been beta testing the service pack and to developers. PC makers and retailers are expected to begin offering SP2 this fall. |
Comments (3)
I read your article and have decided to wait till I see how bad the bugs are. I have xp pro with all their latest updates and recently lost video files that were important to me (two times). I have had problems since I installed xp pro and they pushed sp1 on my computer, Why did I install a operating system and have to download a compleetly new one. Probably not ready to be released. I do not need to have to tinker with more. so like I said I'll wait
Thanks for the very good article
Bob Brooks
Posted by Robert Brooks | August 16, 2004 6:52 AM
After reading your article on apps affected by XP SP2, I wonder how many people you are scaring into not installing it? You only mentioned once in an offhand manner that it is the built-in firewall in that gets automatically turned during the install of SP2 that is causing these problems. Install any firewall and see what happens to servers, games, etc. that you are running on that machine. Understandably Microsoft has released a tool to allow IT admins to block the automatic install of SP2 so that they can deploy it either with the built-in firewall turned off, or have it tweaked to allow their business applications to work. End users have the option to turn off the firewall. This article makes it sound like SP2 prevents software applications from working. Aside from the firewall issues this is not true in all cases. You should expect major service packs to have some effects on your computer (including negative ones) that is why you TEST it before deploying it. Microsoft has a history of releasing service packs that create more problems that they fix, but I don't believe that SP2 is one of them.
I would recommend that you be a little more objective in your articles so as not to shed certain products in a poor light... until they deserve it.
IMHO.
Posted by Faren Chadney | August 16, 2004 7:13 PM
Microsoft’s WinXP SP2 should not be as frightening as you have made it here, so I agree the article is not the most objective written. The article does bring attention to the “negatives” for all those ready to jump to SP2 in a hurry.
The newly introduces Firewall is "different" only of the default "turned on" state. Even in the ICF (Internet Connection Firewall) product, once you enabled it, you have to manually open ports for applications to work. The likelihood is corporate environment would already have the application ports well documented, so it is just the tedious job to create those open ports on SP2’s firewall. Some/many companies will likely turn off the SP2 firewall upon installation, and let their “real” firewall do its job.
Nevertheless, SP2 is not just about better firewall protection. Corporate will benefit from the POPUP blocking feature in SP2 (once again, they will have to tell SP2 which sites are private or trusted so POPUP are allowed, tedious work nevertheless). And don’t overlook the enhancements on the XP wireless client, which many IT managers have been hoping for.
Lastly, for those who access the Internet from home (who doesn’t these days?), SP2’s firewall feature provides protection at a bargain (free).
Posted by Rick Ho | August 17, 2004 3:20 AM