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Microsoft Announces Windows 2000 Update Rollup, Cancels Service Pack 5
by Arie Slob
Hello Windows users,
 At the end of November, Microsoft announced it will produce an Update Rollup for Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 (SP4), which would be released by mid-2005.
According to Microsoft the Update Rollup will contain all security-related updates produced for Windows 2000 from the time that SP4 was released and the time when Microsoft finalizes the contents of the Updates Rollup.
Microsoft also stated that there will be no Service Pack 5 for Windows 2000, and that SP4 will be the final service pack for Windows 2000. SP4 will be a prerequisite for deploying the Update Rollup when it becomes available somewhere in 2005.
The Update Rollup will contain only a limited number of important non-security updates, and consist largely of hotfixes and updates that have been released as individual updates.
Windows 2000 systems with SP4 and the Update Rollup will be considered "up-to-date" from a life-cycle policy perspective until the end of life (EOL) date of Windows 2000. The EOL date will be no sooner than January 1, 2010.
For some additional information you should visit the Windows 2000 Update Rollup FAQ.
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Microsoft Security
Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 SP1 Update Rollup
Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1 (SP1) hotfixes that were released after Microsoft Security Bulletin MS04-004 may not be included in security update 889293 that is documented in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS04-040. Update rollup 889669 includes the cumulative security fixes that are in security update 889293. Update rollup 889669 also includes Internet Explorer 6 SP1 hotfixes that were released after Microsoft Security Bulletin MS04-004. For more information, and download links see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 889669.
Microsoft Windows Security Bulletin Summary for December, 2004
The Microsoft Windows security update for December 2004 is a cumulative security update for Internet Explorer.
Severity Rating: Critical
Microsoft Releases MSN Messenger 7 Public Beta
 Microsoft posted the first public beta of MSN Messenger 7 for the public at large to test. The public beta is build 7.0.0425, the same build as in the most recent private build available to beta testers.
According to Microsoft, these are the main new features:
- Winks: Express yourself with impact. Send animations with sound to really get some attention.
- Drag and Drop Backgrounds: See an image you like? Drag it to your MSN Messenger window to set it as your background.
- Set Status Before Logon: See who's online before others know you've logged in by setting your status! Subsequent logons can start you up in stealth mode (Figure).
I played a bit with this beta… let me tell you: Winks are an annoyance! They are just a bunch off (mostly) ugly animations that "play" in the main conversation window.
What's neat is the drag 'n drop for backgrounds; instead of going through folders trying to locate the picture you want to use, just drop it on the main window, and it will be set as new background.
You can also select to see the last few exchanges from a previous Instant Message (IM) session when starting a new conversation with the same contact.
The option to set your status before signing in also comes in handy.
It seems quite a resource hog though… maybe it will behave better when its final, but I noted a peak memory usage of over 37MB and a page file (swap file) usage of 19MB. With MSN 6.2 I noted a peak memory usage of 17MB, and a page file usage of 16MB.
If you want to give it a try, here are the minimum system requirements:
- Multimedia PC
- Pentium 233-MHz processor or better (500MHz recommended)
- Microsoft Windows 98, 2000, Millennium, or XP operating system
- Minimum 64MB of RAM (128MB recommended)
- Up to 50MB of hard disk space needed to install - after install, up to 15MB may be needed
- 256-color VGA or higher resolution graphics card (SVGA recommended)
- Minimum 800x600 screen resolution
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.01 or later must be installed on your computer, though it does not need to be your default browser
You can download your copy from the Messenger Web site.
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