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Windows XP SP1 Support Ends Tuesday 372

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the cut-off dept.
tophee writes "ZDNet reports that support for Windows XP SP1 and SP1a will be ending this coming Tuesday. From the article: 'Microsoft will end support for Windows XP Service Pack 1 and SP1a on Tuesday, leaving people no option but to upgrade to Service Pack 2 if they wish to continue to receive crucial components, including security software.' Colin Barker of ZDNet notes, 'There's little reason for anyone to still be running SP1; SP2 contained a range of improvements to XP's security.'"
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Windows XP SP1 Support Ends Tuesday More

Windows XP SP1 Support Ends Tuesday

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  • They forgot the scare quotes (Score:5, Funny)

    by Scareduck ( 177470 ) on Tuesday October 10, 2006 @01:35AM (#16374571) Homepage Journal
    around "security".

  • The problem (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 10, 2006 @01:36AM (#16374575)
    The problem with Microsoft is that they never separate bug fixes from feature additions. So either you stay vulnerable or you eat more and more of their junk.

    They should be forced to strictly separate the two.
    • Are you saying a bug can't be a feature?!

      Jeez, critics these days!

      • Re:The problem (Score:5, Informative)

        by quentin_quayle ( 868719 ) <quentin_quayle&yahoo,com> on Tuesday October 10, 2006 @03:31AM (#16375141)
        "Are you saying a bug can't be a feature?!"

        With Microsoft it can!

        And a "feature" can be a bug. One reason the holdouts have avoided SP2 is that Microsoft intentionally degraded the networking with SP2 [microsoft.com]. Yes it's fixable, but not perfectly, and I'm not sure I care to bother with it.

        This is one of the long-planned milestones on my migration to another OS (references to which have become a cliché in this connection).

        Many of the fixes aren't even needed for a lean-and-mean XP configuration, so the time to an "upgrade or exposure" choice may be longer than this month.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by suv4x4 ( 956391 )
      The problem with Microsoft is that they never separate bug fixes from feature additions. So either you stay vulnerable or you eat more and more of their junk.

      Name a feature addition in SP2 that's a showstopper for you. For all time I used SP2, I never found a problem with it, and I use and test a lot of software almost every day.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by julesh ( 229690 )
        Name a feature addition in SP2 that's a showstopper for you.

        * The limit of 30 half-open TCP connections means that using it for some networking applications is infeasible.

        * The fact that it needs 1590MB of disk space on top of your XP SP1 installation in order to install means that it actually can't be installed on a machine with the original recommended minimum hard disk size for XP (1.5Gb = 1536MB total).

        But carry on living in your fantasy world where everyone else has the exact same requirements and usag
    • But you see with evey new feature they introduce they would have to support a security branch for that feature, instead of fixing everything wherever they can they would have to maintain a tree of security branches. (or they would have to introduce feature only in new releases)

    • Re:The problem (Score:5, Informative)

      by suv4x4 ( 956391 ) on Tuesday October 10, 2006 @06:06AM (#16375763)
      The problem with Microsoft is that they never separate bug fixes from feature additions. So either you stay vulnerable or you eat more and more of their junk.

      I didn't want to move to Firefox 1.5. It worked slower and ate far mre RAM on my machines.
      But alas, few exploits later, I updated.

      Because Firefox 1.0 support ended the moment 1.5 was out. Let's see for how long Firefox 1.5 will be supported when the official 2.0 release is out.

      Let me guess: 0 days.

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by RebelWebmaster ( 628941 )
        Because Firefox 1.0 support ended the moment 1.5 was out.
        Uh, no it didn't. Firefox 1.0.x maintenance releases were stopped on April 13, 2006, the same day version 1.5.0.2 was released and nearly 4 months after version 1.5 was released.

  • WGA (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Paxtez ( 948813 ) on Tuesday October 10, 2006 @01:36AM (#16374577)
    Not having to install WGA seems like a good reason...

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      You don't need to install WGA to get SP2.

      • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

        by Paxtez ( 948813 )
        I just upgraded to SP2 yesterday, at windowsupdate they wouldn't let me advance without installing an 'important system update'. I had two options, install or leave.
        • WGA isn't a big deal - you can still choose not to install the WGA *notifier* (it appears as a separate update once you've installed WGA and accessed Windows Update again). WGA notifier is the thing that will annoy you if you have either an invalid licence, or your licenced copy of Windows has not been recognised.

  • Windows98 (Score:5, Funny)

    by VincenzoRomano ( 881055 ) on Tuesday October 10, 2006 @01:43AM (#16374627) Homepage Journal
    Well, Windows 98 had a much longer life!
    Was it a better ... ehm ... operating system?

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by suv4x4 ( 956391 )
      Well, Windows 98 had a much longer life!
      Was it a better ... ehm ... operating system?

      In fact yes, for the time it was a very good OS. It still working great on a number of second hand machines I've equipped for children learning centers.

      You'll be surprised how fine it works on a 24MB system where modern versions of KDE or Gnome would choke and die an ugly death.

      Of course, Internet shortened the relevenacy and life of products very fast (at the speed of a zero day exploit, one might say), so don't expect Mic

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by evilviper ( 135110 )

        You'll be surprised how fine it works on a 24MB system where modern versions of KDE or Gnome would choke and die an ugly death.

        Why would you compare a (almost) decade-old version of Windows with a recent release of GNOME/KDE?

        On older hardware just try, Openbox/Fluxbox, XFce (3.x), Afterstep, etc. It'll run faster than Windows 98 could hope to, all while being far more stable, responsive, and actually getting security updates and supporting most modern hardware, not just old hardware.

  • gotta add something before it gets out of control (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Rooked_One ( 591287 ) on Tuesday October 10, 2006 @01:46AM (#16374647) Journal
    M$ didn't do this to shut down pirates... they know that people will easily get around any protection they can muster. Its so they can work less and concentrate on other things - and to not worry about the people who havn't bothered installing SP2 yet for some reason.

  • Makes sense (Score:5, Interesting)

    by linuxci ( 3530 ) on Tuesday October 10, 2006 @01:49AM (#16374659)
    It makes sense as people have had a long time to test their apps against XP SP2 and report bugs to MS. Of course if SP2 breaks anything and you're a paying customer then I can understand why you'd want to stay on SP1 otherwise SP2 offers some advanages.

    I think things like WGA are being forced on people whatever version they're running so that's no reason not to upgrade.

    When the upgrade is included in the initial purchase cost then this is fine. If they dropped support for XP altogether then that would have been bad but just think of SP2 as an update.

    Anyway I hate MS versioning schemes, why service pack why not call it a point release? They also love weird names for their beta software I remember the IE7 beta 2 preview refresh (which was the second pre-release before beta 2)

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Tim C ( 15259 )
      Anyway I hate MS versioning schemes, why service pack why not call it a point release?

      Because the average user won't know what you mean by "point release", but (presumably) has an idea of what "service pack" means - they're used to having their car serviced, for a start, making sure that it keeps running properly and doesn't break down.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Guppy06 ( 410832 )
      "Anyway I hate MS versioning schemes, why service pack why not call it a point release?"

      Because point releases is what Microsoft makes their OS money from, charging hundreds of dollars to upgrade Windows 4.0 to Windows 4.1 (95 to 98) or NT 5.0 to NT 5.1 (2000 to XP). One could make the case that Microsoft uses their odd naming scheme (such as "Vista" for "NT 5.3") mostly to disguise the fact that they're charging more and more money for less and less meaningful version updates.

      • Oh get off it (Score:3, Informative)

        by Sycraft-fu ( 314770 )
        Vista isn't NT 5.3, it's NT 6 and the designation is deserved. It is not a minor update. Have a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Features_new_to_Wind o ws_Vista [wikipedia.org] if you don't believe me there's, oh I don't know 50-100 things listed. The ones I find of particular interest are the new DirectX and shader model it brings with it, new audio subsystem, desktop composting engine, volume shadow copy, image based installs, and ReadyBoost/ReadyDrive (flash cache support).

        I know that many MS haters would like to bel

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Splab ( 574204 )
          For personal use, I would properly upgrade to Vista, but where I work, I can't see any reason for havin to upgrade, other than MS pulling the plug on XP.
        • Nowhere near 100 things and 99% of those are already in XP (*including* volume shadow copy, which is another thing most people will never use.. do you even know what it's for? I do, and I don't see what the song and dance is for since nobody noticed it previously...). I mean.. wireless networking? IPV6? BITS? NX? The article reads like it was written by someone who last used Windows with Windows 95.

          Like most people I don't give a crap about the new directx version. Directx hasn't mattered since DX6 u

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by drsmithy ( 35869 )

        One could make the case that Microsoft uses their odd naming scheme (such as "Vista" for "NT 5.3") mostly to disguise the fact that they're charging more and more money for less and less meaningful version updates.

        Vista is most certainly NT 6.0. The changes *easily* justify a major version bump.

  • Dialup (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Kangburra ( 911213 ) on Tuesday October 10, 2006 @02:11AM (#16374781)
    'There's little reason for anyone to still be running SP1; SP2 contained a range of improvements to XP's security.'


    They forget of course that not everyone in the world has broadband access. Those on dial-up cannot update to SP2 easily. Here, regional WA, has patchy broadband at the best of times, let alone those who use the internet "just for emails" and don't want to spend a lot to do it.

    • Re:Dialup (Score:5, Funny)

      by bassgoonist ( 876907 ) <{moc.liamg} {ta} {ecurb.m.noraa}> on Tuesday October 10, 2006 @02:14AM (#16374799) Journal
      I set my grandparent's computer to autoupdate...they got SP2 after about 4 months of less than an hour a day average online time iirc.

    • Re:Dialup (Score:5, Insightful)

      by mwvdlee ( 775178 ) on Tuesday October 10, 2006 @02:42AM (#16374941) Homepage
      Even worse; The ISP my brother has, uses a software/hardware combination that they acknowledge won't work with SP2. They refuse to upgrade either, so he's stuck with SP1. The thing is; it's a pretty big ADSL supplier in Holland and he's not the only one in this situation. I can only assume there are many similar situations in which people really are forced to stick with SP1.
      • The thing is; it's a pretty big ADSL supplier in Holland and he's not the only one in this situation.

        I live in Holland and have a pretty large choice of ADSL providers, or I can get broadband from the cable company. In a pinch, use one of the 3 or 4 open wireless in the neighborhood.

        If by "Holland" you actually mean "the Netherlands" then perhaps you are right and he only has one option, if he's in Gelderland or Friesland or some other barely civilized area. ;)

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by jbrader ( 697703 )
      Regional WA? Do you mean Washington State?

  • Little Reason? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by ObsessiveMathsFreak ( 773371 ) <obsessivemathsfreak.eircom@net> on Tuesday October 10, 2006 @03:00AM (#16375027) Homepage Journal
    There's little reason for anyone to still be running SP1; SP2 contained a range of improvements to XP's security.'"
    How's about the fact that you paid upwards of $200 dollars for your copy, along with that the implicit support from Microsoft. How's that for a good reason?

    • Re:Little Reason? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Toreo asesino ( 951231 ) on Tuesday October 10, 2006 @03:20AM (#16375103) Journal
      Do you really expect to be supported running software with known problems? It's only been out since the beginning of Feb 2003, so it's not too much to ask, surely?

    • Re:Little Reason? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 10, 2006 @03:50AM (#16375203)
      and they provided that support through service packs and hotfixes, if your using sp1 you have chosen not to take them up on there support obligations and hence your on your own baby.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by jimicus ( 737525 )
      My previous employer paid IBM a lot of money for AIX 4, but support was still dropped for it.

    • Re:Little Reason? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by drawfour ( 791912 ) on Tuesday October 10, 2006 @06:00AM (#16375737)
      Microsoft IS supporting XP. It's called Service Pack 2.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Kaenneth ( 82978 )
      SP2 IS the support, that's part of what you paid for, the ongoing updates.

      This is like complaining when you bought a car with free oil changes for 10 years, that you need to get the oil changed, then NOT taking it in to get changed, then complaining because it broke down!

      In summary, if you're using Windows XP, and not running SP2 by now, AND you are complaining about Windows problems, you are an idiot.

  • Maybe it's a forced upgrade plan, but SP2 completely broke Windows Update on my computer. It just cycles through the looping progress bar or the tray icon sits at 33% perpetually. It's a totally legitimate copy of XP, dotted with other minor annoyances that worked perfectly under SP1.

    That computer now has Vista on it, so I guess Microsoft won after all.

  • Raw sockets (Score:2, Informative)

    by DextroShadow ( 957200 )
    XP SP2 crippled itself in the name of "Security", by removing access to raw sockets. They caved into Steven Gibson's ranting and raving about how raw socket support was going to kill the internet... too bad there's still 3rd party packet drivers that reenable the functionality.
  • Every machine on our network (thousands) is XP Pro SP1. The technician (who was frankly a lot more knowledgeable than the 2nd-line helpdesk) explained to me once why they couldn't/wouldn't switch to SP2, and it was a technical reason unrelated to cost. Damned if I can remember what it was though.

    Anyone have an idea why this might be the case, or is our IT dept doing more arse-talking than usual?

    Anyway, I just can't wait to find out how badly this is going to fuck our network. Everything else does...

  • So, this means that there is actually just ONE supported version of Windows (for clients). Of course, both Home/Professional/64-bit, but anyway.

    Have the latest - or have no support...

    They are really desperate to make people stop using their old products.
  • When did it ever start?

  • They'll prise Win2K from my cold dead hands. (Score:5, Informative)

    by burnttoy ( 754394 ) on Tuesday October 10, 2006 @06:52AM (#16375947) Homepage Journal
    What can I say. It works, it works well and most drivers (I've yet to find a broken one) work well thanks to WDM.

    I shove a decent firewall on the thing, ditch IE and install my apps of choice and I'm away.

    The only thing missing is Cleartype fonts.

    Best version of Windows ever.

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