The RTM (Release To Manufacture) build of Windows XP Service Pack 2 has just been released to beta testers. That means it should be appearing on the Windows Update site sometime this week. As some of you already I know I’ve been beta testing Service Pack 2 for a while (I’m not running the RTM build) and have to say it really fixes a lot of holes in both Windows XP and Internet Explorer 6.
For those of you who haven’t heard of Service Pack 2 I’ll give you the basic breakdown of what it will offer (at the bottom of each section is a link (or links) to furthering information on Microsoft’s webpage). But suffice to say its pretty much one huge security enhancement for Windows XP. Here is a list of a few features it includes…
1. Security Center
This is the big feature that Service Pack 2 is supposed to offer. After you install Service Pack 2 you’ll have a new item in your Control Panel called (simply enough) Security Center. The Security Center is pretty much your one stop show for information regarding your firewall, anti-virus, and Automatic Update stats.
The Security Center informs you when things that could cause problems security wise occur. The main thing that it will do is inform you when your anti-virus defections are out of date. It will also pop-up a balloon in your taskbar that warns you that you need to update those definitions. It also warns you if any of the three listed items are turned off.
For the three categories (firewall, anti-virus, and Automatic Updates) there are several “states†that can occur and the section related to that particular section will change colors accordingly. Let’s say you have Automatic Updates turned off completely the Automatic Update section will be red to show you that there is a major security risk. Now let’s say you have Automatic Updates turned on but you only have it download the updates and not automatically install them as well, then the Automatic Update section will be yellow to inform you that there is a slight security risk (i.e. the possibility the downloaded update may not get installed). Finally if you have Automatic Updates turned on and have it install the updates automatically the section will be blue to show you everything is in the clear. Both the firewall and anti-virus sections have the same behavior.
Finally the Security Center allows you quick access to the controls for Internet Options, Windows Firewall, and Automatic Updates (previously you had to go to separate locations for each of these options). This is nice and helps unify everything.
2. Enhanced Firewall
Most people know that Windows XP shipped with a firewall installed already. But most people didn’t realize that it wasn’t turned on by default and that the firewall was a very basic and rather crappy firewall. Service Pack 2 changes this. The old Internet Connection Firewall is being replaced with Windows Firewall which sports a lot more features.
First of all the pervious firewall only scanned incoming network traffic and never watched for outgoing traffic. Most people don’t realize that this is a huge risk. The reason for scanning outgoing traffic is so you know when something unauthorized such as a spyware program or a trojan horse program are trying to send out data. The new Windows Firewall now scans both incoming and outgoing traffic.
It also allows you to easily allow a program full access to the Internet. When a program tries to access the Internet for the first time a window will pop up asking you if you want to allow it to send, receive, or both. This is very similar to how Norton Firewall asks you if you want to allow a program access to a network.
Finally the other major problem with the old Internet Connection Firewall was that it had to be enabled for each network and modem connection you had separately. The new Windows Firewall only has to be turned on once and it will be working on all communication devices.
Finally the firewall is turned on by default (if you want to use a different firewall such as Norton’s or McAfee you should turn the Windows Firewall off since they could conflict with each other). This alone will probably stop the spread of many worms (at least if people actually install Service Pack 2).
3. Internet Explorer Updates
Yes there are even some updates for the biggest security risk on Windows, Internet Explorer. The first thing I’ll mention is a feature everybody will be able to appreciate (and something that is long overdue), a built in pop-up blocker. The pop-up blocker works extremely well. When you first encounter a pop-up after installing Service Pack 2 a window will pop-up telling you that the pop-up blocker is now on (and it tells you how to disable it if you choose) and taking down those annoying pop-up ads.
There are three settings for the pop-up blocker. You can have it turned completely off, have it turned on to block most pop-ups, or set to block all pop-up windows. Most people will want to leave it on the medium setting. This will block almost all advertising pop-ups but will allow you to open a new window on pages that do so (in other words when you click on a link that opens a new window it won’t be blocked).
Having the pop-up blocker set on high will eliminate every pop-up window. This means if you click a link that opens in a new window it won’t open. You have to hold down the ctrl button and click the link to override the pop-up blocker. So you probably won’t want the pop-up blocker set on high.
The second big enhancement to Internet Explorer is automatic program installation blocking. No longer can a program just try to install or download onto your machine. When you come to a page where something is trying to automatically download (be it spyware or something you’re trying to get from download.com) the download will be blocked and a little bar will appear at the top of the browser window asking if you want to download this. If it’s a file you were actually trying to get you can then allow it to download (which will refresh the page and allow that download to come through) but if it was spyware you can just ignore it and not have to worry about it.
Finally there is an add-on manager. This thing is slick as… well you know. This thing lists all the currently installed add-ons that you have for Internet Explorer. It also allows you to update, enable, disable, or report any particular add-on. Enable and disable are simply turning the add-on on or off. The update feature goes onto the web and tries to find a newer version of that particular add-on. And report will supposedly send a report to Microsoft and then I have no idea what happens. The main thing I like about this is that you can see if there are any unknown add-ons (i.e. possible spyware or adware) currently installed.
4. Enhanced Wireless Support
Yes Service Pack 2 presents a complete overhaul of how Windows XP addresses wireless connections (i.e. 802.11a/b/g and Bluetooth). The previous wireless connection dialogs honestly were very cryptic and often could be hard to understand for people who weren’t technically inclined. The new wireless dialogs are a lot more streamlined and much easier for a novice user to understand.
When you scan for wireless networks Windows XP will now inform you ahead of time if a particular network is using encryption or not. Of course if your in a public area you want to use encryption so people can’t easily look at everything your sending out and receiving. And when you attempt to connect to an encrypted network a little dialog box will pop up asking you to type in the network’s key (if you previously typed the key in and it’s still current you can just press Ok and connect).
Even the Bluetooth connection dialog (for those of you who even use Bluetooth) has been updated. Once again the dialog boxes are streamlined and easier for most people to understand. It also allows you to easily disable the automatic discovery mode for devices. So when somebody comes within range of your computer their Bluetooth device isn’t automatically locked onto and accessed (and it can’t automatically access your machine).
5. Bug Fixes
Yes there has been a plethora of bug fixes; most of them are fixes for previous holes found in Internet Explorer. All the currently known exploits for Internet Explorer are suppose to be fixed with Service Pack 2 so you can finally browse in relative peace (although if you are using a different browser such as Firefox or Opera you already have that peace).
Those 5 features only begin to scratch the surface of what Service Pack 2 offers. This update is an absolute must for anybody running Windows XP. Now there are several ways to acquire Service Pack 2…
1. Windows Update - When it’s released it will be on here.
2. Download It off of MSDN - This will end up being a large download and honestly I don’t recommend it.
3. Get the free (you won’t even have to pay shipping) CD. Just a note that you may not be able to order it until the middle or end of the month…
