[WinPartners] IS&T Recommendation for Windows XP Pro SP2

[Deb Bowser]

Date: Tuesday, 14 September 2004
To: MIT Community:  itpartners, winpartners, sw-release-announce, ed-tech
From: Software Release Team <winxp-release at mit.edu>
Subject:  IS&T Recommendation for Windows XP Pro SP2
Cc: is&t, itag, it-lead
-----------------------------------------------------

Good day:

After extensive testing and research, Information Services and Technology 
(IS&T) is now recommending Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows XP Professional 
at MIT.  Windows XP SP2 includes many updated security features that will 
help protect against various network attacks. This Service Pack does not 
protect against all vulnerabilities, including some that may arise in 
Internet Explorer (IE).

MIT community members should not attain a false sense of security from 
SP2.  You should continue to be vigilant with critical patches and we 
recommend using the MIT Windows Automatic Update Service (WAUS) to provide 
the most critical patches for your systems.

Hardware vendors have stated they will start shipping machines with Windows 
XP SP2 pre-installed beginning September 29.


New Features
---------------------------------
SP2's new features include:
- improved Windows Firewall
- better power management
- new Security Center
- pop-up blocker for Internet Explorer
- improved wireless networking

SP2 also provides additional safeguards against malicious attacks from 
viruses and worms including better network protection, memory protection, 
e-mail handling, web browsing security, and computer maintenance.

For more information about new features in SP2, visit IS&T's Windows XP 
Professional page:
	http://itinfo.mit.edu/product?vid=642

IS&T has tested the current suite of supported software and continues to 
work with our Enterprise partners around the Institute to test and evaluate 
Windows XP SP2 with the suite of Enterprise applications. Although testing 
has been favorable, these applications have not yet been extensively tested 
within the SP2 environment and require further evaluation.


Who should upgrade and why
--------------------------------------------
If you are running Windows XP without SP2, you can apply it through Windows 
Update.  As with any major system change, it is good practice to contact 
your local technical expert for guidance and use the following as a 
checklist to ensure a smooth upgrade:
      --  back-up prior to installing SP2
      --  clean-up spyware that may be installed on the machine(s)
      --  review known issues


Known issues
---------------------------------------------
Installing SP2 can take over an hour.

Microsoft recommends cleaning spyware/malware from a machine before 
installing SP2.
For help with detecting and removing malware see:
	http://web.mit.edu/ist/topics/security/malware.html

For a list of additional known issues:
	http://itinfo.mit.edu/article?id=7312


How to obtain Windows XP SP2
---------------------------------------------
Through Windows Update:
         http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/

For additional methods, see the "How to obtain" section within the 
documentation:
http://itinfo.mit.edu/product?vid=642#hto


If your machine(s) is configured to use the Windows Automatic Update 
Service (WAUS) provided by MIT, you will get SP2 when deployed via WAUS if 
you have not installed SP2 beforehand.  Additional testing within the 
central domain is needed before IS&T deploys SP2 via WAUS.  Critical 
patches for both pre and post-SP2 systems will continue to be provided by WAUS.


Documentation:
---------------------------------------------
Documentation for SP2 including system requirements, new security features, 
security guidelines, troubleshooting tips and known issues is available to 
assist the community with upgrading:
	http://itinfo.mit.edu/product?vid=642


Getting help
--------------------------------------------
If you need assistance with installing or using Windows XP SP2, please 
contact the Computing Help Desk at computing-help at mit.edu or (617) 253-1101.


Deb Bowser
QA Coordinator - Client Support Services
Information Services and Technology (IS&T)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Room W92-176
Cambridge, MA 02139
617-253-3879
bowser at mit.edu