McDuck Posted October 16, 2003 Share Posted October 16, 2003 If you're wondering why Microsoft is taking so long to release Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), wonder no more: The company is working to back-port various Longhorn security technologies into SP2, providing a mid-ground between the default security found in XP and that which will be available in its next major desktop OS. Code-named "Springboard," the new security features include an updated version of the Internet Connection Firewall (ICF), which adds outbound scanning capabilities and other features previously found only in Microsoft's enterprise server product, Internet Security & Acceleration (ISA) Server 2000. Microsoft's SP2 schedule came under fire late this past summer when the company quietly revealed that the release would not ship until the first half of 2004; previously, the company had told me that it would be released by late 2003. The previous service pack was initially released less than a year after XP itself, a schedule that most customers were comfortable with. But delaying SP2 until the first half of 2004 would create an 18 month gap between the service packs, an interminable amount of time given the vast number of security patches and other bug fixes Microsoft has released in the interim. Many of Microsoft's customers continue to avoid installing hot-fixes and other updates, and instead wait for service packs, which collect these updates into a single, installable unit. The inclusion of the Springboard security technologies, however, requires a lot more testing time. Sources close to the software giant tell me that beta testers should soon get their hands on an XP SP2 beta version that includes the new security technologies; previous betas did not include any of this code. In addition to the new firewall, which will be left on by default, other Springboard security technologies include a new version of Windows Update, and new memory management code for defeating common buffer overrun attacks. The Springboard technologies will also be made available to Windows Server 2003 customers via the first service pack for that OS, Microsoft says. News source: Paul Thurrott`s WinInformant ************************************** Bill Gates yesterday confirmed that there is no official release date yet for the next version of Windows, named Longhorn. "Longhorn could be 2005 or 2006," Gates told a small group of journalists yesterday at the TechNet/MSDN seminar in The Hague. "This release is going to be driven by technology, not by a release date. Which probably means it is going to be late." It is not that Microsoft is on vacation or that it reduced its R&D, Gates explained. "But we have to make sure that we really take on something dramatic, like 32 bit computing eight years ago, or the NT kernel in Windows XP. We also have to solve a ton of things in terms of simplicity and management. It has to be a big advance across the board." One thing that seems to slow down the next release of Windows is the much talked about data storage system WinFS, technology designed to make information easier to find and view. Since it is based on the next version of SQL Server or Yukon, the system will essentially function as a relational database. News source: The Register Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McDuck Posted October 16, 2003 Author Share Posted October 16, 2003 2006 :> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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