Latest Vista SP1 tweak open to everyone with a week to spare
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Install, spin three times, buy a monkey and wait Microsoft is now letting the common rabble get its mitts on the latest beta build of Windows Vista Service Pack 1.â¦
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Microsoft urged Windows Vista users to download a new security tool that automatically disables suspicious or malicious "gadgets," the small applets that mimic the "widgets" popular on Mac OS X.Dubbed "Windows Sidebar Protection," the 1MB download was added to Windows Update on Tuesday and classified as a "high-priority" update. Microsoft customers running Vista RTM -- the initial version that launched in late 2006 to businesses and early 2007 to consumers -- saw the update on the list starting Tuesday. The update is optional, but depending on what settings have been selected in Windows' Automatic Updates, it may be downloaded and installed without any additional user interaction.Windows Sidebar is a Vista-only panel that holds the miniature applications known as gadgets -- small single-purpose tools that, for instance, display the time and date or RSS feeds. The Windows gadgets are composed of HTML and various scripts.And there's the rub, said Microsoft."Vista treats gadgets like it treats all executable code," said the advisory that accompanied the update. "Gadgets are written using HTML and script, but this HTML is not located on an arbitrary remote server as Web pages are. HTML content in the gadget is downloaded first as part of a package of resources and configuration files and then executed from the local computer."In other words, gadgets could be dangerous, even malicious. The small applications are crafted not only by Microsoft but also by third-party developers and users; Microsoft distributes gadgets on its Web site, but it doesn't vet them."The update gives us a mechanism to prevent a malicious gadget from being installed first of all, and if it's installed, to block the gadget [from running]," said Austin Wilson, a director in the Windows client product management group. "We're being proactive here. We looked at the [security] landscape and wanted this in place in case a problem arises in the future."There are no known vulnerabilities in any existing gadgets, Wilson claimed, stressing that Microsoft knows of no purposefully malicious gadgets, either.When it detects a flawed, suspicious or malicious gadget, Microsoft will create a "kill bit" file that it will then push to users through Windows Update on the regular once-a-month patch day, said Wilson. Yesterday's update included no kill bit, stressed Wilson, but instead is the tool that generates a unique ID for each gadget, accepts the list from Windows Update and then blocks existing gadgets from running or newly-downloaded gadgets from installing.After a gadget has been identified as bad, its icon gets swapped out with one labeled "Bad Gadget." The icon also can't be dragged, and the tool tip shows it as a security risk.The Sidebar security update is already integrated in the bits that were distributed as Vista Service Pack 1's release candidate last month, said Wilson, and it will be included in the final when that launches in the coming weeks.Microsoft has posted a pair of documents on its support site that go into more detail: KB943411 includes the download links to the 32- and 64-bit versions of the tool; KB941411 walks users through the various dialog boxes they will see when the tool tries to bar or block a gadget.
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Some users have gotten the massive Office 2007 SP1 update automatically, even though Microsoft said it would not use Windows' AU (Automatic Updates) to push out the large upgrade for several months, the company confirmed Thursday.Anyone running a preview copy of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1), which was made available to all comers only Wednesday, will receive the Office 2007 upgrade automatically. Users of other in-beta Microsoft products, including Windows XP SP3, which is still in limited testing, will also be hit by the Office update, which weighs in at almost 220MB."As noted to beta customers, if [they] are running Vista SP1 beta software, as part of the beta program, Office 2007 SP1 on pre-release Windows Vista SP1 will automatically install as planned for this beta program," said Bobbie Harder, a senior program manager with the WSUS (Windows Server Update Services) group.Others, including Susan Bradley, a writer for the WindowsSecrets newsletter, noticed the automatic download and install of Office 2007 SP1. "I woke up on Wednesday morning to find a notification that a Vista machine had rebooted after being patched," Bradley said in Thursday's issue of the newsletter. "I found, to my surprise, that the new Service Pack 1 for Office 2007, which was released on Tuesday, had been auto-installed."Bradley also said that even if users of Vista SP1, Windows XP SP3, or WSUS 3.0 SP3 manually installed Office 2007 SP1, AU later automatically installs -- actually re-installs -- the service pack.Earlier this week, when Microsoft unveiled the service pack, it said AU would not be used to deliver SP1 for at least three months and maybe as many as six months. In any case, it promised to give users 30 days' notice before it pushed it out using AU.While technically true -- Office 2007 SP1 is only shoved to users running a preview OS -- some Vista users have been confused by the appearance of the service pack in their Windows Update listings this week as they downloaded and applied numerous security patches.Harder explained what Vista users experience in a blog post Thursday. "On Vista in the Windows Update Control Panel Applet, the Office 2007 SP1 will appear as an available update to download and install, but it will not automatically download and install, regardless of the automatic settings," she said.That's true, countered Bradley, but because the service pack shows on the list and is checked by default, it's easy for users to overlook it, then get slammed with the massive download. "If you are a bit asleep and just blindly approve all of the patches, you get a very large wait while SP1 for Office 2007 is downloaded," she said.A Computerworld reader reported exactly that. "I received [Office 2007 SP1] last night Dec 11 as part of Windows Auto-update," said someone identified as 6monthVistaUser in a comment attached to a story about SP1. "Last night was the largest auto-update ever (230 MB download) filled with 11 updates. 1 was for IE v7, 6 were for Vista cumulative patches, 1 was the Office 2007 Service Pack 1, the other one was for Business Contacts Manager SP 1."Harder defended the process. "For customers who want the benefits of Office 2007 SP1 now, we have made it available," she said. She also noted that users could choose not to pull in the service pack. "Download and installation of the Office 2007 SP1 via the Vista Windows Update control panel applet requires explicit user interaction, just as with the Microsoft Update site," she said. "Once the list of available updates appears, they can de-select or uncheck the box next to Office 2007 SP1 and choose to download and install other updates, or just close the applet."The next time Windows Update runs, however, Office 2007 SP1 reappears, again checked by default. To strike it off the list, users must right-click the item in the list and choose "hide update."
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Â Microsoft Corp. is giving users more time to prepare for Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) by doubling the time a special registry key will prevent PCs from automatically downloading and installing the mammoth update.
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Microsoft releases a refresh of its first service pack for Vista to beta testers, indicating the final release might be near.
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Microsoft  plans to release the first Service Pack for Windows Vista on Feb. 4, according to reports from Tech ARP; meanwhile, Windows Server 2008 is also due out in the coming week.
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10.3.7 fixes bugs, fills security holes
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Microsoft's Windows XP Service Pack 3 release candidate is now available to anybody and everybody who wants to confirm reports that XP with SP3 is significantly faster than Windows Vista.
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Incremental fixes Microsoft pushed out a series of five patches for Vista early this week.â¦
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Paper-folding distraction while downloading XP SP2
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Microsoft has released yet another hotfix&#39;to fix a newly discovered problem in its XP Service Pack2 (XP SP2) release.
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Applying the&#160;SP1 update to Vista&#160;does nothing to improve its application compatibility, with almost 20 percent of software still unable to run, a study has found.Recently founded application testing company AppDNA ran a &#39;before&#39; and &#39;after&#39; on Vista using SP1 (service pack 1) using its AppTitude system, finding that it made no difference whatsoever to its ability to run a test suite of corporate 500 applications, 18 percent of which failed to work without help.As bad as this sounds, the company rated this as good news because service packs normally introduce as many problems as they solve. That SP1 left compatibility performance unchanged was in stark contrast to the experience with SP2 for Windows XP, which&#160;unexpectedly broke many applications&#160;that had worked before.&quot;Organizations have been waiting to see SP1. But people have been wary after SP2 [for XP],&quot; said AppDNA&#39;s CTO, Paul Schnell. &quot;The updates have been incremental and had no impact on compatibility.&quot;The AppTitude testing software used an algorithmic technique to look at applications for behavior known to break Vista. The company also ran usability tests by loading software and digging around to see whether there were issues, Schnell said.Customers running the tests on their own applications using AppTitude would receive an indication of the severity of compatibility issues using a red, amber and green light system, giving them the information needed to plan migration. The software also provided a report on possible fixes.According to its official history, AppDNA is in its first month of independent operation, having been spun out of application migration specialist Camwood, which remains a channel partner. The company won&#39;t be keen to annoy Microsoft too much - its early business has it working closely with the latter on migration projects.Equally, Microsoft has long given up worrying about the Vista&#39;s difficult image. The news that it might still have issues with one in five applications won&#39;t come as a surprise.Redmond has announced its own application migration tools for Vista and prepared for the long haul. The company has pursued a policy of open access to the SP1 refresh, making as few claims as possible regarding the specific issue of compatibility.Techworld is an InfoWorld affiliate.
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft distributed a new build of Windows Vista's first service pack last week to its invite-only list of testers, according to bloggers armed with copies. But as is the norm, the version also leaked to BitTorrent networks. The 6.0.6001.16633 (longhorn.070803-1655) build weighs in at a relatively svelte 684MB, bloggers and message forum users claimed. The first Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) beta, which leaked earlier this month to BitTorrent peer-to-peer file-sharing networks, was significantly larger -- more than 3GB -- and came as an .iso file that was, in effect, Vista with SP1 already added. Last week's build, an .exe file, updates existing Vista installations. Vista updates -- such as security patches and other hotfixes -- are normally packaged as .msu files, however, perhaps indicating that 6.0.6001.16633 is not a direct step toward a public release of SP1. "Surprisingly, the update file is in the .exe format," said WinBeta last Thursday. "Many (including myself) were expecting Microsoft to deliver the update for Vista SP1 in the new Vista/Server 2008-only .msu format used for current Hotfixes." Odd-Magne Kristoffersen, a Norwegian blogger who specializes in Microsoft's software, posted a series of screenshots Tuesday that he claimed show the newest build being installed. "The installation process involves no less than 3 restarts," said Kristoffersen. Like the earlier SP1 beta, it appears Microsoft has been unsuccessful in keeping build 6.0.6001.16633 testers in line; Computerworld easily found it on P2P networks. Microsoft has been mostly mum about Vista SP1; as recently as a month ago, the company quashed rumors that that the beta was just around the corner. Its official line has been that it will issue SP1 beta "sometime this year." Many corporations, on the other hand, have taken the advice handed out by analysts, who recommended that companies delay deployment until SP1 is available.
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Get a closer look at some of the new features in Vista Service Pack 1.
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A glitch that causes endless rebooting prompts Microsoft to pull the software update that prepares Vista for SP1.
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Microsoft wants to make it easy for users to upgrade among editions of the next Windows.
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