1.2. Windows Editions and Service Packs Windows XP is actually available in several different flavors, each of which is intended for a different market:
- Windows XP Professional
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The power-user edition of Windows XP, and the subject of most of this book.
- Windows XP Home
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This less-expensive edition of Windows XP is nearly identical to the Professional edition, with only a few minor exceptions. For instance, a few administrative tools present in XP Pro are missing from the Home edition.
- Windows 2003 Server
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This edition is designed for those running a web server, domain server, or another mission-critical application (and if you don't like Unix). It's effectively the same platform as Windows XP, also with only a few minor exceptions when it comes to the end-user experience and the topic of conversation in this book.
On top of this assortment, Microsoft releases bug fixes and security patches for all editions of Windows several times a month, and if you have XP's auto-update feature enabled (Chapter 6), you likely have most or all of those updates already installed. Now, from time to time, Microsoft consolidates all these patches into Service Packs, theoretically making it easier to assert precisely which version of Windows you're using. As of this writing, two service packs have been released for Windows XP:
- Service Pack 1 (SP1), released in September 2002
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Released roughly a year after Windows XP first hit store shelves, SP1 contained nearly all the maintenance fixes to date, as well as a beefed-up Activation system (explained later in this chapter). Since hoards of phony Microsoft serial numbers floating around the web were instantly rendered useless, this update understandably caused a stir. However, the real problem with SP1 was the fact that it was issued as just another entry in the Windows Update catalog. For those with the aforementioned auto-update feature enabled, this meant that SP1 was installed automatically on millions of computers. A 160+ MB download requiring at least three times as much free disk space, it brought many otherwise-functioning systems to their knees for no other reason than insufficient disk space.  | Let this be a lesson to you to avoid installing any subsequent service pack in this way; instead, download the standalone "network" version and run the update manually (after backing up your entire system) to avoid the worst of the SP-related problems. |
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- Service Pack 2 (SP2), released in August 2004
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SP2 was a more significant update than merely the sum of the bug-fix updates it contained. Among other things, SP2 replaced the weak wireless-networking support found in earlier versions with a new WiFi sniffer and configuration utility (Chapter 7). Plus, Microsoft has actually started pretending to take security seriously with this release and has changed a few of the operating system's defaults to plug the holes that so much malware (Chapter 6) had exploited previously (while, at the same time, opening up a few new ones). Finally, it comes with an improved firewall and a new Security Center utility to help protect the system. See Chapter 7 for complete coverage.
If you purchased Windows XP recently, either by itself or preinstalled on a new computer, then you likely already have either SP1 or SP2 preinstalled and are using a more recent edition than the one originally released in 2001. If you don't yet have Service Pack 2, it's considered essential, especially if you use wireless networking. That said, see Chapter 6 for a way to prevent SP2 from being installed on your system. |
