Microsoft Preps Windows XP Service Pack 2 Beta For Release Within Next Week

Service Pack 2, or SP2, expected to be delivered in finished form during the first half of 2004, is considered a significant Windows update because it offers enhanced security features and rolls up all the security patches and updates that have been released since the last service pack shipped in September 2002.

Sources familiar with the Service Pack 2 beta said the update offers Internet Connection Firewall (ICF) turned on by default, better patch detection and management features, changes in the way e-mail attachments are handled and support for the Security Configuration Wizard, planned for the first Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 due in the second half of next year, partners said.

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