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Microsoft Windows XP "Reloaded"
by Arie Slob
Hello Windows users,
 What's that, you'd say? Well, despite previous denials by Microsoft, it seems that Microsoft has reversed their plans and will offer an "interim" release of Windows XP!
Previously Microsoft always denied it was considering such a release. Will Pool, Senior Vice President, Microsoft Windows Platforms Group, at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHec) 2003 conference stated: "Now, I'm sure that many of you have heard about or wonder about the possibility of whether we're going to do something before "Longhorn," is there an interim release, and that's something that I don't expect us to do."
But it now seems that Microsoft is close to making the decision to release an interim Windows XP version, which is being referred to internally as "Windows XP Reloaded." This release would come after the release of Service Pack 2, which is currently estimated to be released before mid-year. This would put a possible release of "Reloaded" at the end of this year, or the beginning of 2005.
It does seem that things are still in the planning stage, so concrete details are hard to find. It does sound like "Reloaded" will not make major changes to Windows XP itself, but rather be like a "Plus" pack, with additional functionality. Some reports mention a version 10 for Windows Media Player as one example of "updated" functionality.
Early reports also indicates that "Reloaded" might be made available using a Web based installer, which will let users choose which features they want. The product will also be made available through retail, replacing existing Windows XP boxed products.
Longhorn, the next version of Windows, in the meantime, seems to be slipping (what's new?). At the WinHec conference speech linked above, you can read that Will Pool stated: "Over the course of 2004 you'll see a couple of releases in the betas for "Longhorn" and we'll see that coming to market in 2005." Later Microsoft said that a ship date of 2005 wasn't a set date, and would only go as far as to state that Longhorn would ship "when ready". It had been anticipated that after last year's release of an early beta version at the Professional Development Conference (PDC), a first public beta of Longhorn would be made available near the end of 2004, with a release of the final product somewhere in 2005. It now seems more likely that the final product won't ship before 2006, and maybe even as late as 2007!
I will be attending a 3 day MVP summit at Microsoft in early April, and although some things discussed will be under a "Non Disclosure Agreement", I still expect to be able to give some more details on the "roadmap" Microsoft will lay out for Windows XP and Longhorn.
For consumers, a clear roadmap is not that important, but the enterprise market needs a clear roadmap, and right now it's pretty vague.
Virus Writers: At War?
You may have noticed the increase in virus activity over the past week. Several new versions of the MyDoom, Netsky and Bagle virus have all appeared on the Internet in a short spade of time. Antivirus researchers have uncovered text messages in two of the worms that suggests a battle is underway between virus writers.
For example, the Beagle.J worm includes the text: "Hey, NetSky, f**k off you b***h, don't ruine our bussiness, wanna start a war?"
A message found in Mydoom.G reads: "To netsky's creator(s): imho, skynet is a decentralized peer-to-peer neural network. we have seen P2P in Slapper in Sinit only. they may be called skynets, but not your sh***y app."
The Netsky worm removes/disables the Mydoom and Bagle viruses from machines it infecs, and this seems to have sparked the "war".
Please make sure you are aware of the characteristics of the new viruses, particularly the latest Beagle.J worm, which spoofs the "From:" field in the email message when it arrives, to appear as though it is coming from one of the following addresses at the recipient's domain:
- management
- administration
- staff
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in order to trick users into opening the attached file.
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Rose City Software
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Added: Microsoft Windows XP "Reloaded"
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Highlights
Removing the Unique Tracking Number from Subject Line of Microsoft CRM E-Mail
This update addresses the E-mail tracking feature of the Microsoft Business Solutions CRM v1.0 product. This feature provides the ability to track e-mail correspondence by including a unique tracking number that appears on the subject line of messages composed from within the Microsoft CRM system.
When this update is applied to a Microsoft CRM implementation, the administrator will have the ability to turn on or off the e-mail tracking feature. If the e-mail tracking is turned off, the Microsoft CRM system will no longer generate the unique tracking number.
More Info & Download
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Temporary hotfix installation files are not deleted in Windows XP
When you install hotfixes to Microsoft Windows XP, some temporary installation files remain on your computer and are not deleted as expected. This behavior occurs for hotfixes that are applied after the installation of Windows XP SP1.
Read Microsoft Knowledge Base Article
Spam's 'dirty dozen' exposed
The United States, Canada, China, South Korea and the Netherlands are the top five birthplaces of spam worldwide, according to a new analysis by security software maker Sophos.
Read C|Net Article
FREE Software: Eprompter
Eprompter is an effective mail retrieval and notification tool. If you have no time to open each of your mail accounts and check your messages, get an Eprompter to prompt you. ePrompter automatically and simultaneously checks and retrieves your email messages from up to sixteen password protected email accounts including AOL, Hotmail, Yahoo, MSN, and others.
ePrompter gives you the ability to delete unwanted spam without having to launch your email program or go to your web mail's site.
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Download [898 KB]
Buffer Overflow in WinZip
iDefense reported that a buffer-overflow vulnerability in WinZip can result in the arbitrary execution of code on the vulnerable system.
Read iDefense Article
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06 March 2004, Vol 7 No. 9
