14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is currently in full throttle with the evolution of both its server and client operating systems. Windows Server 2008, formerly codenamed Longhorn, Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows XP Service Pack 3 are all cooking, with final releases planned for 2008. The Redmond company is gearing up to release Windows Server 2008 to manufacturing in the first quarter of the coming year. And although the RTM was postponed from the end of 2007 to the beginning of 2008, Microsoft is still targeting a joint launch of Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008 and Microsoft SQL Server 2008 in Los Angeles, on February 27, 2008. Kevin Turner, Microsoft Chief Operating Officer announced that the LA release will catalyze similar events worldwide for the three products.
The 2008 RTM of Windows Server 2008 automatically determined pushing Windows Vista SP1 into next year. You have to understand that Windows Server 2008 and the first service pack for Windows Vista are joined at the hip. Well, not so much at the hip as at the core. Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008 feature the same kernel and Microsoft took it a step further, making all the shared components identical in the two operating systems, in contrast with the development policy for Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP. The strategy automatically implies conjoining future Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista releases. In this regard, Microsoft is bound to synchronize Windows Server 2008 and Vista SP1. And although Microsoft has failed to confirm the release details for Vista SP1 arguing that the date is in accordance with the testing feedback and the quality standard of the service pack, the launch of the refresh will not happen any earlier than the end of February 2008.
Now, as for Windows XP SP3, the refresh is nothing more than an example of unfinished business. Service Pack 3 is for Windows XP the last breath of fresh air before the end support coma. And the truth is that XP SP3 is long overdue and it shows. Microsoft initially planned it for 2006, before the release of Longhorn, back when that codename referred to the next version of the Windows client and not the server operating system. The release was postponed in early January 2006 all the way to the second half of 2007, after the release of Windows Vista. And of course, from this year, Microsoft pushed XP SP3 further back to 2008. The first half of 2008, that is.
But this does not change the fact that users are already feeling the aromas of the upcoming Windows feast and there is a consistent volume of crumbs from the Microsoft table to satisfy their insatiable appetite. Peer-to-peer file sharing networks are in this aspect flooded with Windows XP SP3 and Windows Vista SP1 releases, available to all via torrent clients.
The Hunger for XP SP3
The fact that Windows XP SP3 is long overdue is an understatement. There are downloads available via P2P that went live back at the beginning of 2006. There is a real, almost palpable hunger for the third service pack for Windows XP. Case in point, a website which claims to be a superindex for in excess of 5,000 torrent trackers worldwide, where the actual volume of downloads associated with the items referencing XP SP3 is somewhere between 150,000 and 200,000, on just the first page displaying the results entered to the "Windows XP SP3" query.
XP is without a doubt the dominant platform on the operating system market. And has been in this position for quite some time as it had since 2001 to 2007 to dig in its roots. In December 2006, according to data from Market Share by Net Application, XP hit an apex of 85.3% on the operating system market. Vista had been released to businesses for just one month and Microsoft was getting ready for the consumer launch on January 30, 2007. Immediately as it hit the shelves, Vista began eroding the share of Windows XP, while also impacting that of older Windows operating systems such as Windows 2000. Over seven months later, Vista accounts for 6.26% of the operating system, while XP is down to 80.48%. One thing that Vista failed to do is convert Mac users to Windows. The share of Mac OS X remained intact after the availability of Vista and is even on the increase.
And as Microsoft won't declare XP expired, working to delivering the third service pack in the first half of 2008 and having already extended support for the Home and Media Center editions throughout 2014, the same as the Professional version, Windows Vista will have increasing difficulties dislodging it in order to become the dominant presence on the operating system market. Currently Microsoft plans to deliver the first full beta for XP SP3 in mid September 2007, making it available for download to MSDN and TechNet subscribers.
But other examples of XP SP3 are less limited, and I am of course referring to the versions up for grabs via P2P networks. As temping as they might seem, such downloads have to be avoided at all costs and in this context the sole cost is related to the time you will have to wait until the official XP SP3 drops next year. The vast majority of XP SP3 torrents are not exactly what they claim to be. In fact they are hybrid Windows XP SP2 builds loaded with everything but the kitchen sink. A torrent picked at random advertises its own contents: "Adobe Reader 7; Alcohol 1.9.5; Avast Antivirus 4.7 PRO; Google Toolbar With GMAIL; HDD Life; K-LITE Mega Codec Pack; Power Archiever; UWI BBChanger Pack; UWin Installer 2.5.0; UXPBSOD Utility; Windows Vista Media Player for XP; Winamp 5.0.4 WMP 10 Enegry Bliss; XP To Vista Theme Pack; XP PowerToys; XP-2-Vista Transformation Pack Yahoo Messenger; Zone Alarm FireWall ...........and many more."
And two things that you can surely bet on is the fact that the download is not Windows XP SP3 and that it does contain "many more" items. But judging exclusively by the description, the so-called copy of XP SP3 features so much malicious code that it is no longer Windows. Another XP SP3 offers everything from Adobe Acrobat to Firefox, ZoneAlarm, Nero, QuickTime, to the Windows Vista RTM sidebar and even Photoshop CS2. The third example I selected promises Windows XP SP2 plus all the post-SP2 updates and hotfixes made available by the Redmond company. Such a download has the potential to kill your system even if it does not contain any malware. It's one thing when Microsoft integrates a range of updates into the fabric of the operating system and delivers a service pack and quite another when the bundle is artificially put together by a third party.
All you have to consider is the fact that Microsoft delivered a pre-beta version of XP SP3 in mid July, but that the final release will come in 2008, which automatically implies a whole year of testing. Now compare the official SP3 with something thrown together and just bearing the SP3 label. And of course that even the official XP SP3 testing milestones from Microsoft get leaked. Windows XP SP3 build 5.1.2600.3180 (xpsp.070718-2058) is widely available via torrent trackers. But still, you'd better wait for the final release. There's no telling what the download contains, despite of the claims that it is genuine and not corrupted in any manner. And since XP SP3 is just a standard release, you won't be missing much at all.
Windows Vista SP1 Holds the Leakage Record
Although the sheer volume of Windows XP SP3 torrent far outweighs that of Windows Vista SP1, the latter still holds the record in term of leaks. Both build 6.0.6001.16549.070628-1825 and build 6.0.6001.16633 of the pre-beta versions of Windows Vista SP1 have been leaked to P2P networks compared with just one for Windows XP SP3. Additionally, in the case of Windows Vista, torrents are available for download not only for the 32-bit variant but also for the 64-bit, delivering the complete release from the Redmond company. This detail is rather significant as Microsoft only dropped Vista SP1 and XP SP3 in the laps of a limited pool of testers and despite this all the refreshes managed to leak to P2P sites.
The Vista SP1 torrents are not as corrupted as Windows XP. For starters the downloads are at least clean of third party programs. Still, there is absolutely no guarantee that malicious code was not integrated in the release before making the torrents available for download. And since Vista is by no means immune to malware, the leaked versions of the first service pack are also to be avoided. Microsoft will deliver the Beta of Vista SP1 to MSDN and TechNet subscribers by mid September 2007. Between 10,000 and 15,000 testers will be permitted access to the release. But if you aren't one of them you'd better hold on until the first quarter of 2008 for the final product. There is also the chance that Microsoft will drop a public beta build by the end of 2007, close to the date where Vista SP1 will move into release candidate stage.
Still Vista SP1 is clearly differentiated from XP SP3, as there is less anticipation for the service pack designed to refresh Microsoft's latest operating system. With Windows XP, the gap between 2004 when Microsoft served Service Pack 2 and 2007 is felt through the user frustration. There is a clear demand for SP3 if users have started building their own refreshes, while the Redmond company was busy hammering away at Windows Vista. But with both Vista SP1 and XP SP3 available in 2008, Microsoft risks encouraging users to ride Windows XP SP3 for all it's got until Windows 7 (Seven), Vista's successor drops in 2010.
And just in case you needed a reason to stay away from the Vista SP1 and XP SP3 downloads exemplified above, IDC performed a study commissioned by Microsoft at the end of 2006, titled: "The Risks of Obtaining and Using Pirated Software." The study revealed that: "25% of the Web sites we accessed offering counterfeit product keys, pirated software, key generators or crack tools attempted to install either malicious software or potentially unwanted software. A significant number of these Web sites attempted to install malicious or unwanted code. 11% of the key generators and crack tools downloaded from Web sites contained either malicious or potentially unwanted software. 59% of the key generators and crack tools downloaded from peer-to-peer networks contained either malicious software or potentially unwanted software. A significant amount of malicious or unwanted code was present in the key generators and crack tools."
Now pirated materials have been long used along pornography as an incentive to compromise the victims system. There is no free ride when it comes to pirated software and the same is valid for Windows XP SP3 and Windows Vista SP1, actual free offerings when they will become available from Microsoft next year.