News
Microsoft SP2 Beta Pulled From Site
- By Scott Bekker
- December 15, 2000
If all you want for Christmas is hotfixes and bug fixes, you may have to wait. Although
Microsoft made a beta of Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows 2000 available to preferred customers on Monday, reports
BetaNews, the site was no longer allowing users to download, as of yesterday afternoon.
Although Microsoft uses Service Packs to fix bugs and other problems in its products, Service Pack betas themselves are notoriously buggy. Speculation on the BetaNews site suggested that Microsoft pulled the beta because it contained too many problems to offer to customers. As with all betas, Microsoft does not recommend users to install Service Pack betas in production environments.
The SP2 beta was a relatively large beta. The self-extracting beta weighed in at a hefty 99.5MB, containing no new features, only code to repair current problems in Windows 2000. Microsoft says that now it is committed to releasing new products on a 12-18 month cycle, it will no longer introduce new features with service packs.
One addition adding to SP2’s heft is reported to be new OpenGL libraries. OpenGL is a set of APIs for rendering three-dimensional animation, perhaps a less-than-essential update for most business users.
Microsoft has not announced when it will ship a production version of SP2. The beta was previously available here at the Microsoft premier download site. - Christopher McConnell
About the Author
Scott Bekker is editor in chief of Redmond Channel Partner magazine.