April 12, Microsoft will discontinue a feature that allows users to block the downloading of its Service Pack 2 (SP2) security update for Windows XP. Microsoft's Service Pack 2 released last September to bolster Windows XP security features will be considered a critical upgrade by the company. In its April 4 report on business adoption of Windows XP SP2, AssetMetrix warned that a surge of SP2 downloads on April 12 could stress IT help desks and cause "productivity brownouts" among employees. But a Microsoft spokesman downplayed that scenario, saying fewer than 1% of Microsoft's enterprise customers ever used the blocking tool anyway reports Information Week. Small businesses and consumers will be unaffected by the change, he says, because the blocking tool was not available to them.
AssetMetrix advises companies that did use the blocking tool, yet now want employees to upgrade to SP2, to do so gradually before April 12 in order to avoid a support problem. Organisations that still want to delay installing the update can disable Windows' automatic update facility, although this means they will miss out on any other updates released. A study by AssetMetrix has found that less than a quarter of PCs using Windows XP OS have opted for SP 2, while 40 per cent of organizations are actively avoiding the security patch. Just seven per cent have accepted the fix.
The April 12th date is also the same day that Microsoft will release a number of security patches as part of its monthly scheduling of security updates.
