xp service pack 2 do u recommend it yet?????

well...
What I heard... (cause after that I didnt want to install it) is that if you play over the internet, it WILL slow the connection and bring lots of lag. The guy who told me so plays FFXI a lot... and probably that happened due to the new "security" thingamajigs. Yet... I dont know anything else.

Re: xp service pack 2 do u recommend it yet?????
I've seen NO internet slowdown on any system I've setup (about 30 different configurations) with XP SP2.


Coxy#1, personally I recommend it wholeheartedly...but then I've never had any problems with its installation (most of the issues that people have can be fixed by simply configuring the new built-in firewall).

By the way, I'm not sure what you're talking about regarding "all the hotfixes & patches to install." There are still no regular critical patches (that is, stuff you can download from Windows Update) released for WinXP since SP2 was made available, other than Service Pack 1 for the Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1. There are various hotfixes that've been released that fix certain specific SP2 issues, but you most likely don't need them (especially for a home system, and you'd probly have to call up Microsoft to get them anyway)...for example, a couple people in my company use a Neoteris VPN device for which a hotfix to SP2 was required.

One piece of software that rather famously had issues with XPsp2 was DivX....there's now a new version of DivX which fixes that. ...Some antivirus software has also had patches released that helps them better report to the new Windows Security Center.

When I installed SP2, it &^%$ my computer quite a lot. I wasn't able to delete things, without the system crashing all the time.

What I am finding is that every once in awhile, since I downloaded SP2 is that my "Windows Classic" appearance occasionally reverts to the XP appearance, which I hate.

Spoke to the techs at Dell. Told me to go back to the time that SP2 was not installed, and then reinstall the whole shootin' match all over again. Right now, I am just waiting.

all i've found so far is bootup times are slightly slower

It's working fine for me.

I downloaded the patch to SP2 yesterday; no issues.