Xp Sp2
 

Anyone else using it?

The pop up blocker for IE is VERY elegant compared to 3rd party ones... Security model is "improved", but still leaves too much left to chance if you don't use NAT. Windows Update is actually integrated into XP... MS's Bluetooth stack seems to work fine with most Bluetooth USB dongles I've tried..

I'm using it on one machine and I'm going to go back to SP1.

The new "security" is a PITA. This probably bothers developers more than anyone else, but if I see that stupid bar at the top of a web page about how IE is protecting me from myself one more time (and the associated cascade of "are you sure"s), I'm going to break something.

The Bluetooth stack, near as I can tell, has completely broken all useful functionality. For example, go browse your mobile phone and transfer some images, sounds, videos, whatever. Oh, wait, you can't because there is no way to do it. You have to pick the images one at a time and send them from the phone. Compare this to the Bluetooth stack that came with my Logitech keyboard/mouse: right-click the icon, Quick Connect > File Transfer > Name of device and there's a window with all your files.

Pop-up blocker seems redundant with the Google Toolbar, and now that I'm accustomed to it I have no interest in getting rid of it.

I have tested XP SP2 at work on some workstations and it has reduced workstation speed by up to 60% and reduced internet downloading speeds by up to 50%. This update is a surefire way to slow your system down. I recommend you do not update with this patch until MicroSoft has ironed out the known problems with "severe performance reduction".

This said - you can uninstall easily without too much drama. This is one patch to avoid for now.

I don't know if elegant also implies good.

Try Addsubtract from addsubtract.com

I've been testing it since the early low builds, it has evolved quite a bit over the past months.

The current version is almost there, but I suspect it's still going to create heaps of problems for some people...