Users report SP2 breaks their applications

That Windows XP's latest update, SP2, will break some applications, is unquestioned even by Microsoft Corp. It even held back the service pack's release when it realized that one of its own applications would be affected.

But it's early days for SP2, which adds features, mostly concerning security, as well as fixes to the now-ageing OS. At this stage, finding sysadmins who have installed the released version of the service pack is not easy. That applies in spades if you're looking for anyone who has deployed it for real in a production environment of any size. And it's hardly surprising given the size and complexity of the update.

Because of the extensive changes that Service Pack 2 includes, the software giant has urged developers and IT professionals to test the update thoroughly. However, "it just seems that Microsoft doesn't quite understand how difficult this is to do," said Bill Lewkowski, CIO at Metropolitan Health, a company with 1,300 users recently migrated to Windows XP with SP1. "We can't do unplanned, unbudgeted service pack releases that are very similar to putting in a whole new version of an operating system," said Lewkowski. "I'm frustrated with Microsoft."

Randy Truax, a technical services manager at Metropolitan Health said: "I almost prefer just fixes, because if they start putting in new functionality that developers have to test their code against, it adds a lot of complexity for us." IBM has also instructed its users not to install it.

What can be gleaned though from those who have reported on their experiences to date is that the biggest concern centers around the new security features - hardly surprising since this is the main impetus behind the service pack.

Among the most obvious changes is the built-in firewall. Now on by default, it's likely to break applications if they use unusual IP ports to access applications, whether personal or corporate. In addition, the firewall is designed to activate much earlier in the boot cycle than before and remains on until after the IP stack is disabled, which may cause problems for users whose machines need to access network resources.

Tests suggest that there are some unusual and as yet unexplained features in SP2. For example, one test center reportedly installed SP2 and found it caused BSDs (blue screens of death). Using Microsoft's own suggested procedure to roll back to a pre-installation environment, they found that it also uninstalled SP1, and "uninstalled every device that existed in the PC. Network cards, video cards and all system resources were uninstalled."

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