In an unusual move, Microsoft plans a widespread test release of the service pack. The company anticipates that more than 10,000 people will have access to this test release. Typically, only a few thousand people would test a service pack before its release. "This certainly isn't what I would call the typical service pack," said Gartner analyst Michael Silver. "Microsoft is trying to pack a lot of things in there. Certainly the (Justice Department) settlement is a big part of it." While the changes designed to comply with the Justice Department settlement are the most visible, Microsoft plans to include other new features for the service pack. As part of its Trustworthy Computing initiative and a nearly two-month security analysis of Windows XP and Windows 2000 code, the software giant will include a number of security fixes in the service pack. Microsoft also will do away with the pop-up box that urges users to sign-up for .Net Passport, the company's online authentication service. During recent testimony in Microsoft's antitrust trial, critics charged the company used the persistent reminders to sign up as a way to quickly build membership for Passport and to give it a competitive advantage over other similar authentication programs. Microsoft also plans to offer as an option support for its forthcoming .Net Web services initiative. "We are going to include .Net Framework as an optional component, so that a (PC maker) has the option to include it on their PCs," Cullinan said. Microsoft released .Net Framework for download earlier this spring using XP's Windows Update feature. The software giant is adding it to the service pack "because we've heard from customers and developers who are now building applications for the .Net Framework as part of Visual Studio.Net," Cullinan said. "They wanted it sooner than later." Another change seeks to curb about 90 percent of Windows XP piracy. Microsoft introduced Product Activation with the operating system, which uses a numeric key to lock the software to the hardware. But a stolen code from a large Microsoft customer allowed rampant illegal Windows XP copying. People using Windows XP with the stolen key will not be able to apply the service pack or any future updates available from Microsoft's Web site. "Basically we're freezing their computer where it is," Cullinan said. "We're not preventing them from using it, but obviously one of the benefits of having a license is keeping your PC updated." As previously reported, Service Pack 1 also will include support for Mira wireless devices. PC makers also will get updates supporting Tablet PC software and Freestyle, a new XP interface for accessing the operating systems' digital media features using a remote control. These will not be available to consumers. The update will broaden Windows hardware support in other areas. Microsoft released drivers supporting USB 2.0 for download in February. USB 2.0 support will be part of the update. Microsoft also plans on fixes based on the Windows XP error reporting tool, which allows users to submit a bug report following a crash. That has led to over 40 fixes for software and hardware. One update will fix a problem between an Nvidia graphics card driver and the Windows XP operating system that led to fatal crashes. Microsoft also plans to introduce an update to Windows Messenger with the release of Service Pack 1. "In order for Windows Messenger to be hidden and removed, we had to make changes, and that's manifested in (version) 4.7," Cullinan said. "Also there have been some security issues (in Windows Messenger), and those will be addressed also." In a related move, Microsoft is also simultaneously putting the finishing touches on Windows 2000 Service Pack 3, which is in final beta testing before release. That service pack is expected to be released ahead of the service pack for Windows XP, Cullinan said.
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