No SP2-Style Security Updates for Windows 2000

Although Microsoft Corp. deems the security improvements included in Windows XP Service Pack 2 important enough to divert the companys resources from "Longhorn," these updates wont be coming to users of the older but still heavily used Windows 2000 operating system.

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Labs Director Jim Rapoza said Microsoft needs to offer a Windows 2000 service pack with similar security improvements. Click here to read his column.

This doesnt mean that companies running Windows 2000 are in grave danger lest they upgrade. Several of the key new features in SP2, such as firewall protection and the Security Center dashboard, can be obtained through third-party software, such as the Symantec Corp. Client Security 2.0 product we reviewed in April.

However, individual users of Windows 2000 will likely miss most of the improvements SP2 makes to Internet Explorer, such as pop-up blocking and an add-on manager. Microsoft has made it clear that IE will receive new features only as part of operating system updates, so Windows 2000 users will have to shift to an alternative such as Mozilla Firefox if theyre interested in taking advantage of browser innovation moving forward.

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