Schadenfreude: Windows XP SP2

I'm thinking about starting a weekly feature here. For those of you who haven't been infected by this particular meme, Merriam-Webster offers the following:

Main Entry: scha·den·freu·de Pronunciation: 'shä-d&n-"froi-d& Function: noun Usage: often capitalized Etymology: German, from Schaden damage + Freude joy : enjoyment obtained from the troubles of others

So for this week's laugh at someone else's expense, I've picked a company that can certainly afford it, longtime tech industry villain Microsoft. From all appearances the release on Windows XP Service Pack 2 has been an absolute mess for end users and companies' IT departments. I've been collecting these horror stories ever since my Windows Update icon has been telling me that SP2 is available for download and installation right now!

These are from Slashdot.org:

Inspiron owners complain of SP2 slowdown

"- in some cases by a factor of almost ten, from 2.6GHz to 300MHz"

WinXP SP2 = security placebo?

"It may look impressive, but the SP2 package fails to provide several of the most important, basic modifications required to run Windows safely on an Internet-connected machine."

Check for spyware before patch, Microsoft warns

"Barry Goff, a group product manager at Microsoft, said some spyware could cause computers to freeze up upon installation of the update."

And from the Register:

200 apps clash with XP SP2

"Consumers should note that some programs will 'stop working' after they install Windows XP Service Pack 2."

XP SP2 über patch already needs fixing

"The vulnerability allows malicious websites to place an executable file in a user's start-up folder when a user drags or clicks on a program masqueraded as an image."

And from eWeek

XP SP2 Gives Reasons to Switch to Linux

"... I did expect to see some improvement. Boy, was I wrong. Yes, some things are better, but there are also a slew of new, exciting security concerns."

Latest SP2 Flaw Bypasses IE Security Zone

"... the use of an unconventional value in the "Content-Location:" field of an MHTML (MIME HTML) file causes the browser to execute the file in the Local Intranet zone, even though it is run from the local computer."

Mac OS X and Linux users have been telling the IT industry to get off this low-security, proprietary, overpriced OS for years, maybe now a few more CIOs will listen. I run all three operating systems at home. It's true that they all have their idiosyncracies, but bar none, XP is the one that misbehaves the most and expects everything to act the way it acts. Bill Gates and Steve Balmer, your OS security is a joke and people know it. If you're out there: Ha-ha!