DISCLAIMER: Logging other people's keystrokes or breaking
into other people's computer without their permission can
be considered illegal by the courts of many countries.
The monitoring software reviewed here is ONLY for authorized
system administrators and/or owners of computers.
We assume no liability and are not responsible for any misuse
or damage caused by the keylogging software. The end user of
this software is obliged to obey all applicable local, state,
federal and other laws in his country of residence.
May 08, 2008
Windows XP SP3: First Impressions
Three-and-a-half years after the release of Service Pack 2 for Windows XP, which boasted a slew of intensive fixes and tweaks for the OS, Microsoft is now preparing to let loose its final XP service pack.
The folks in Redmond just announced public availability of the second XP SP3 release candidate, and we took it for a test drive. What do we think of it? Meh.
In all fairness, Microsoft has been working for months now to temper expectations about this pack of updates, which consists primarily of previously released fixes now bundled together for convenience. Meanwhile, the few new features delivered in SP3 are likely to go entirely unnoticed by most users.
Enhancements such as improved detection of so-called black hole routers (which silently drop packets during operation) is likely to please net admins, but will get little more than a shrug from all but the most die-hard end users.
Same goes for the newly integrated Network Access Protection and support for credentials security service providers, both of which exist mainly to enhance networking functionality with the forthcoming Windows Server 2008.
If you’re not an IT manager and you’ve been installing your Windows XP updates each week like a good dog, there are really only two features in XP SP3 worth worrying about: one good, the other questionable.
On the good side, Service Pack 3 updates the menu text in the security options control panel to make it more descriptive of the various options. This should make it easier for users to decide which settings to tweak and how. It’s an incredibly minor tweak, and one that’s easy to miss if you’re not looking very closely.
More dubious is the Windows Product Activation update, which makes the XP installation process more Vista-like. This means you’ll no longer be forced to input your Windows product activation key during installation (although you’ll still have to do so within 30 days or your OS will stop working).
However, it also means Windows XP will be tracking your hardware configuration in much the same way that Vista does, which could lead to your computer being disabled in the event that you change out fundamental components such as your motherboard or processor.
All things considered, Windows XP Service Pack 3 proves to be a fairly anticlimactic final release in the XP service pack line. It won’t blow up your computer, but it won’t make it very much better, either.
If, despite our tepid response to XP SP3, you're just itching to take it for a test drive yourself, you can download a script here that will enable you to get the service pack via Microsoft Update.
Be aware, however, that this is not the final release and may yet contain code that could be harmful to your PC. We only tried it on non-critical test machines, and we suggest you do the same.
Source: PC World
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