<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; = charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2180" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#d8d0c8> <DIV><FONT size=2>Yes, I've been waiting just for the "other shoe" to drop.  But SP2 was released Aug. 13.  There have apparently = been two more versions of it since then, and nothing scary or ugly.  There = are definitely some major security holes plugged, such as the one that can = allow damage to your PC thru nothing more sinister than opening a .jpg (the = GDI+ loophole).</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>So carve out some time when things are slow, check = out the list of affected software (manufacturers have had time to respond to the = final SP2 release, now), and give it a shot.  If you're already running a = firewall (like ZoneAlarm, which I recommend instead of Windows' = firewall, since it works in both directions -- <A href="http://www.zonelabs.com">www.zonelabs.com</A>), or don't = download many things from the Internet, or are on dialup (where your exposure is = limited), it's not as much of a benefit.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>--Cy--</FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; = BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: = black"><B>From:</B> <A title=avery@ev1.net href="mailto:avery@ev1.net">Avery Todd</A> = </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A = title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, October 05, 2004 = 12:24 AM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: OT Windows XP = SP2</DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT><BR></DIV>I've never heard yet of anyone = recommending installing this update. Yet! <BR>Except Microsoft, of course. Even our = university recommends waiting because <BR>of all the possible = conflicts with major programs. <BR><BR>Besides that possibility, I've also heard to = wait until at least "most" of <BR>the bugs in the update are fixed. You = think there won't be some???? :-) <BR><BR>Avery</BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>