XP SP2 Delivery Schedule Adjusted

Microsoft has altered its internal delivery schedule
for the Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), because some high-end enterprise
customers needed more time to prepare for the Automatic Update feature.

Microsoft originally planned to deliver the
security-centric SP2 via Automatic Update as a critical download on August
10, but this has been pushed back to August 25 for machines running Windows
XP Professional Edition.

The service pack delivery via Automatic Update is on schedule for
machines running pre-release versions of Windows XP SP2. On Wednesday, August 18,
the company plans to release SP2 for users running Windows XP
Home Edition only.

A Microsoft spokesman confirmed the adjustment dates affected users of
Windows XP Professional only because enterprises needed additional time to
configure desktops running Automatic Updates.

“We actually haven’t made many distribution changes, but those we have
made have been in response to customer feedback,” the spokesman told internetnews.com.
“For example, some enterprise customers were interested in temporarily disabling Automatic
Updates in order to be fully prepared to install SP2, and we provided a tool
that would allow them to do so.

“We designed AU [Automatic Update] with consumers and small businesses
in mind and we were quite pleasantly surprised by the number of enterprise
customers that have found it a valuable means of keeping computers
up to date.”

He said the software giant was on track for more than 100 million SP2
installations through Automatic Update alone by the end of October. The
company has already distributed 1 million copies of the service pack through
its Download Center and MSDN portals.