Windows XP SP2 RC1

The other day Microsoft sent me a CD via Airborne Express of the beta of Service Pack 2 for Windows XP. The version they sent is Release Candidate 1. Scoble wanted feedback. Here you go.

My overall impression is that it accomplishes what they set out to achieve—namely, to provide enhanced and centralized security features to Windows XP. Something new that Microsoft has added is the Security Center. This is a place where you can check to make sure that the improved Windows Firewall is operating and that you’re set to automatically download updates. It also provides links to the various places in Windows where security settings come into play. This is a great thing, and with the better firewall, well worth the cost of upgrading (it’s free). According to a Google search, SP2 will hit wide release in Q3 of 2004.

MSFT also made some improvements to Internet Explorer. They added a pop-up blocker to IE. If you’re like me you’ve obtained pop-up blockers a long time ago, but it’s nice to see it integrated into the browser instead of having to rely on third-party software such as the Google Toolbar. Also they added an interesting little feature called Add-On Manager. It gives you a list of all the software that’s been plugged-in into Internet Explorer by the user. I was expecting to see Google Toolbar and not much else. I was surprised to see 14 individual entries here. But it was more granular than expected. For example, 4 entries were related to Norton Internet Security 2004, which I run on this computer. All in all, I could account for all of the add-ons except one, which had a name only a machine could love. The Add-On Manager is a great feature for people who accidentally hosed their copy of IE by installing some nasty toolbars or software off the Internet. I work at a large university, and I’ve seen all manner of strange plug-ins to IE on public workstations. At least in the future, we’ll have a way to disable some of this cruft.

So all in all, it’s a great update to a great operating system. I tell my Mac friends that XP is the most Mac-like operating system yet, which to me means that it’s the easiest version of Windows to use by far. And the most visually appealing. I went to a party at SXSW Interactive over at frog design’s offices in Austin, and they had a big poster up of interfaces they designed in Windows XP. I didn’t know that frog had designed the Start menu in XP. That was fascinating to learn, and perhaps is a hint at why it’s so good and useful. In the 80’s, I knew frog as the place that had designed the Apple //c, and it’s wonderful to see that they’re working with Microsoft.

Now for the critique: first, the install of SP2 is an intense endeavor. It felt like I was installing a new operating system. The whole install, which first backs up files and then install files, took over a half hour. When the system rebooted, the intensity continued and my hard drive ran solid for a good ten minutes. Finally it announced that Windows had recovered from a “serious error.” I of course sent the error report to MSFT. I’m positive that it was Norton Internet Security that had failed—I’ve seen this happen before to NIS when the hard drive is being monopolized by another process at startup. I rebooted again, and all was fine.

I noticed a new icon for the Security Center in the systray. When I boot up, the Security Center loads first or just about, and then Norton Internet Security, which includes Norton AntiVirus 2004, loads. The problem is that every time I boot up I get a little window from Security Center saying that it couldn’t determine the status of my antivirus software. When I open Security Center, it says “Check Status” for Virus Protection. It adds that “Norton AntiVirus reports that it is installed, but its status is unknown.” Norton appears to be working fine, but the Security Center has so far been unable to determine its status. If you click the Recommendations button, it tells you to check that antivirus is installed and up to date (it is), and suggests purchasing and installing a different antivirus program. This is not helpful information.

This is an interface issue, but the Security Center user interface looks unfinished to me. Maybe this is because it is still beta, but it appears to my eye that the window wasn’t finished—too much “white space” along the left-hand side perhaps and maybe because of the lack of a menu bar.

Another bug I noticed is that there’s a new Security Center icon under Start/All Programs/Accessories/System Tools. When I click the icon, Windows doesn’t know what to do with it and displays an “Open With” dialog asking me what program I want to use to open up the file wscui.cpl. This is a little disconcerting to see in a Release Candidate.

But like I said, overall it’s a great update. I haven’t run into any problems running apps, and the new features in the firewall, which can block outgoing as well as incoming traffic now, are much desired. The firewall isn’t as robust a product as the personal firewall in Norton Internet Security, but it’s much improved. And the firewall is turned ON by default. This is big. My brother bought a new Dell recently, and I walked him through how to turn on the Windows firewall because it was turned off when the machine arrived at his house. Changing this default behavior will go a long way toward protecting people who either don’t know or don’t care about the firewall.