Put out SP2 on CD?

[Steve]

Excerpts from Woody's Windows Watch -

There's been a lot of speculation in the computer press recently about
Windows XP Service Pack 2 - or, rather, the lack of a new Service
Pack. Paul Thurrott (www.winsupersite.com) has led the charge to press
Microsoft to bundle all of these security patches together NOW (let's
hope they get 'em right first!) and release them as a Service Pack.
Amen to that.

In fact, I think MS should get us a new Service Release - one that
goes in shrinkwrapped boxes of Windows and, most importantly, on new
PCs. Update CDs should be available, free, on the counter at every
computer shop, book store, retailer and warehouse discounter in the
world. Three reasons.

First, if you install the most recent version of Windows XP, WinXP
Service Pack 1, on a new machine, and you connect to Windows Update,
you'll discover that over 100 MB of downloads are waiting for you.
Some folks can scoff at that monstrous dose of fixes, but for most of
us, waiting for hours to download an update to Windows XP is just
ridiculous.

Second, Windows Update doesn't work worth a fiddler's fart. I don't
know if I have the first or second or third fix of MS03-004 (or was it
MS03-013? MS03-029?), and I bet you don't either. We all need to start
from a somewhat cleaner slate. A well tested, rock solid Service
Release is the only way to do that.

Third, Service Pack 1 came out a year ago. Everything you've seen
since then - Windows Media Player 9, Movie Maker 2, a gazillion
security patches and much more - got onto your system via willy-nilly,
one-at-a-time downloads. That's a very haphazard way to get the latest
and greatest (or, in many cases, to simply get something that works).

Hasn't Microsoft made enough money on Windows XP to offer its
customers a uniform set of reliable updates, free, quickly, massively,
as a simple courtesy? Seems that 'Trustworthy Computing' is turning
more and more into a PR exercise rather than a practical reality for
Microsoft customers.

 

[Testy]

While I do agree in principle, I also feel that the users also bear some
responsibility here. I currently have about 18 uninstalled updates and have
no intention of ever installing SP2.

I am unaffected by any virus, had no problems with Blaster. My system runs
fast, never crashes and has absolutely NO problems at all.

I have a good router/firewall, an excellent up to date AV. I don't visit
porn sites nor download any programs from the internet except from reputable
publishers and do not open attachments in e-mails without scanning them
and/or knowing who they are from.

I have never been infected with a virus, have no spyware and am completely
happy with my system as it is.

I feel if users took a few simple precautions and used a little more common
sense most problems would not occur,

That being said an average user with little or no knowledge SHOULD keep
their computer updated and also take the time to educate themselves a bit
more.

Testy

Excerpts from Woody's Windows Watch -

,> as a simple courtesy? Seems that 'Trustworthy Computing' is turning

 

[djs]

x-no-archive: yes

While I do agree in principle, I also feel that the users also bear
some responsibility here. I currently have about 18 uninstalled
updates and have no intention of ever installing SP2.

I am unaffected by any virus, had no problems with Blaster. My system
runs fast, never crashes and has absolutely NO problems at all.

I have a good router/firewall, an excellent up to date AV. I don't
visit porn sites nor download any programs from the internet except
from reputable publishers and do not open attachments in e-mails
without scanning them and/or knowing who they are from.

I have never been infected with a virus, have no spyware and am
completely happy with my system as it is.

I feel if users took a few simple precautions and used a little more
common sense most problems would not occur,

That being said an average user with little or no knowledge SHOULD
keep their computer updated and also take the time to educate
themselves a bit more.

Here we go again... The problem is that the "average user with little
or no knowledge" DOESN'T know enough to keep their computer updated.

To this day, post after post complains of RPC problems caused by the
blaster worm. You and your "blame the user" cohorts can whine all day
long about how these people should be damned for their own negligence
(that being your own term), but those clueless people are highly
representative of a typical WinXP home user.

You brag about how you didn't install all the updates--implying that you
evaluated the necessity of each of them to your own system. Then you
brag about having a router, and all that other crap (which is no claim
to fame; congratulations, that all applies to me as well, whoopee!).
But the average user has no idea what in hell a "router" is, much less
any of the rest.

....Which points out the stupidity of your entire post. You brag about
how much of a computer whiz you are, you brag that as a result you have
no malware problems, yet you fail to acknowledge that the typical user
DOES NOT have that knowledge. Still, you blame those "typical" users.
This is about equivalent to bragging that you never get mugged because
you are a black belt. Sure, the vast majority of people aren't also
black belts, but you don't care; to you, the fact that YOU are means the
police and legal system are relieved of their duty. After all, it's
everyone ELSE'S fault for not being at YOUR level, right?

....Which, if you were paying attention, leads us to the obvious fact
that you need to...

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/forumfun/stfu.jpg

 

[Steve]

...Which points out the stupidity of your entire post. You brag about
how much of a computer whiz you are, you brag that as a result you have
no malware problems, yet you fail to acknowledge that the typical user
DOES NOT have that knowledge. Still, you blame those "typical" users.

This is typical for AmUsenet - "if everybody else would just emulate
me, there wouldn't be any problems."