Win XP sp2 Download

[mikeymike]

"When it is ready" :-)

[mikeymike]

is a windozes OS ever ready?

Given that Windows NTx (as in NT4, 2000, XP, 2003, and later) evolves through service packs in the same way that Mac OS X and every UNIX variant does, and they are all arguably as good as each other overall (each with its own advantages over the others), I think you're being a tad biassed to the point of pure MS-bashing.

But this release (sry, open to beta testers only now) seems fairly stable (in a sort of win95 way)

Considering it's a public beta test, you're once again being biassed in your implication that it is somehow 'secret'.  I don't know anyone whose opinion I trust regarding Windows who is trying the XP SP2 beta, but the general opinion I have heard is that it does good things for WinXP.

I personally prefer Windows 2000 to XP, I think it is a more mature product.  My parents' machine has XP on it as the Luna GUI is better for their aging eyes than any scheme I could contrive using previous versions of Windows.

[mikeymike]

How much do you have to download for a typical WinXP box though?  Consider that the full service pack size will include stuff that you don't have on your system, and the 'express download' will only download what is needed.

For example, on a typical Win2k Pro workstation, going up a service pack usually results in a 20MB download.  Usually Win2k service packs are ~100MB in size if you don't want to do an express download.

I've heard extremely varying figures for the total size of XP SP2.  I've heard 270MB, but I've also heard as low as 40MB.

WinXP doesn't have Server versions that the service packs need to cater for, but there is the Home and Pro version, which mainly differs wrt Windows filesharing/domain services.

[mikeymike]

Either way, it's a huge d/l and no fun what so ever for people on dialup.

True, but service packs are available on computer cover CDs.  Plus, my business benefits from doing customers favours in this respect :-)