Some software developers may find their applications no longer work on machines using Microsoft Service Pack 2 for Windows XP, which will be released later this year.
Windows XP SP2 Could Break Existing Apps
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
Synthesizer company Waldorf Electronics went bankrupt recently. They produced many synthesizers, and lately a number of VST plugins, the most famous of which is their software emulation of the legendary PPG Wave 2.3.
The question is, will their VST plugins fall foul of the changes in SP2 when running on a modern processor such as the Athlon64? (I’m ignoring the Apple version, admittedly)
Because if it does break, it’s as dead as Waldorf, plain
and simple. There won’t BE a fix. And this would be ironic since the original PPG machines are still working fine.
The prime reason to get a hardware synth whenever possible..
Yes is sucks that some programs, especially those without a developing source behind them, will stop functioning. I use some apps I’m sure won’t work any more. I’ll get over it. You know why I’ll get over it? Because it’s about time security became a major concern. Microsoft has for eternity forsaken security for ease of use. They wanted to give people a simple environment to complete their tasks. That ease has caused lazy users and lazy programming that creates MASSIVE holes all over the place. <Netsky is on version G as of this post> It’s about time someone said “tough, learn how to use that pc instead of fumbling around like a lemming.”
note: I am not calling all programmers lazy. I am saying, even as an admin, that if you can cut a corner you usually do… if for no other reason than time. All of us need to be more responisble in our coding and administrative practices.
Good for Microsoft.
Every single Service Pack has had the potential to break previous applications. Some (NTSP4) were worse then others, and I hope that it’s fairly widely known that XP SP2 is a rather large change and thus could break lots of applications. The real question in my mind will be how many people will actually upgrade to the new service pack once it gets released? Are they going to force the OEMs to use it instead of SP1? (I assume the answer is yes)
Hell, I’m still using W2k.
//Hell, I’m still using W2k.//
You, and millions others.
I use XP at home, but at work, as the IT Manager, I see no reason whatsoever to move my client PCs from W2K to XP Pro.
If an app breaks and is not updated, find another app. How hard can it be? There’s only so much legacy shit that needs to be supported in Windows.
Plainer and simpler.
Yes, other Service Packs have broken things, but not on the scale that this one prospectively could. I am happy to see MS (finally) focusing a bit more on security, and I think that threefoot|ninja had a point. Most apps shouldn’t need “God” privileges.
when your app is interfacing a controller card that runs a manufacturing machine built by a company that went the way of the dodo a few years back, you can’t always find another app.
just like all those games that worked in 98 and don’t work in 2k/xp and won’t ever be ported (all i want to do is play Slave Zero!).
not everyone just runs a word processor and the latest version of solitaire
If one of the things keeping people from putting linux on the desktop is the inertia caused by not wanting to port custom apps, would the fact that there custom apps now may be broken and they need to rewrite them anyway, be enough to make them consider a platform change as well…
Matt
So… You’re saying Microsoft needs to take account that dodo controller card in all their next Windows releases?
You dedicate a $10 PC to that manufacturing machine, run whatever supports the DoDo.
For those old games, run WMVare, VirtualPC, Bochs or poke the developers to open the source.
It’s not Microsoft’s fault apps break; if the vendors would follow the API, and not rely on sloppy struct and memory hacks, they’d work just fine.
There is plenty of apps that get this right. Now, let’s lose the ones that don’t.
There are lots of high-profile apps that will break from this, and I’d wager tomorrow’s lunch that Quickbooks is one of them – it’s one of those stupid apps that requires admin privileges to work.
Damien
Oh, so porting an entire application to another platform is easier and faster than fixing the sections (RPC, DCOM, etc.) required to bring it up to speed? Completely illogical.
It’s a perfectly accepted feature of the Linux market that most applications will only work properly on a few distributions as supplied and the user has to manually compile the code to run it on most distros
Breaking a few apps will do the Windows market good by forcing people to evaluate their software requirements and purchases rather than just constantly upgrade to the latest version of what they used before.
“Microsoft’s Visual Studio .Net is one of the applications affected by Windows XP SP2. The developer tool’s debugging feature won’t work because of the improved Windows Firewall, previously called Internet Connection Firewall, which will be turned on by default and will close all ports, Goodhew said.”
so hmmm, why is that?
Hey! Don’t use logic around zealots. It’s like mixing oil and water.
Well, if the only thing causing an application to not run is an improved firewall, then guess what? Open the port that the program needs to run. Big deal.
“Well, if the only thing causing an application to not run is an improved firewall, then guess what? Open the port that the program needs to run. Big deal.”
Actually, the bigger question is why should a local app need a port opened on a firewall to run? The firewall should run on external interfaces, and not effect the loopback address 127.0.0.1. If they are restricting that address, then there will be all kinds of apps that break and will not run.
“”The great bulk of applications will not be affected by memory protection. The number one that leaps to mind is execution environments with just-in-time code generation. The .net Framework is one,” Goodhew said.”
I’m assuming this will break the java JIT compiler. Anyone know if Sun has updated Java so that it will be compatible?
“”Microsoft’s Visual Studio .Net is one of the applications affected by Windows XP SP2. The developer tool’s debugging feature won’t work because of the improved Windows Firewall, previously called Internet Connection Firewall, which will be turned on by default and will close all ports, Goodhew said.”
so hmmm, why is that?”
I wonder what they are talking about as well. The article isn’t very clear. Maybe it’s just the remote debugging part of the debugger won’t work? But I don’t know.
[quote]when your app is interfacing a controller card that runs a manufacturing machine built by a company that went the way of the dodo a few years back, you can’t always find another app.[/quote]
Hire a competent programmer and have him/her port that pos app.
The main quetsion now is:
Will Sp2 be a patch?
Because with my nicotine patch I stopped smoking, maybe with the Microsoft patch I’ll stop using Microsoft????
Hang on, I aready did that i use Core 1.
Life is sweet
Phil
Thank you for your very convincing argument of why not to use Linux.
Break binary programs is only problem if they are not opensource. I think that even proprietary software should be sold with source code. Sell “right of use” a binary is stupid because you pay for something that is not yours forever.
The adds on the page this article links to are obnoxious. They’re huge.
I’m sorry, but have you never heard of escrow development? Almost all large deployments that rely on customized closed source software to run a business are run under escrow. Since licensing has nothing to do with the nature of the source, the ‘not yours forever’ comment makes no sense either. If you are running a business and you do not take these factors into account then your failure is a lack of business acumen, not a result of a closed vs. open source license.
Thank you for your very convincing argument of why not to use Linux.
That convinces you eh? And you consider yourself logical?
“If developers do find that SP2 breaks their applications, it most likely means that they were not following best practices in terms of security when writing their applications, according to Goodhew.”
Then I suppose Internet Explorer won’t work with SP2? =)
Why would a debugger need ports open on your computer to allow it to do its job? The machine I do a lot of development on has a firewall running, and my debugger works fine.
Owners of Highpoint ATA Raid cards have been spitting at Microsoft since XPSP1 when they disabled the ability to use Highpoint cards without even bothering to warn us first
Many systems were badly borked by this.
“Then I suppose Internet Explorer won’t work with SP2? =)”
Funny you should say that. I’ve heard it kills Mozilla dead
but also causes IE to crash randomly. Obviously Mozilla can and must be fixed, and IE will presumably be wholly working by the time SP2 is finally released.
I’ve also heard that NX kills Mozilla on Linux too, and the problem is caused by some kind of self-modifying weirdness rather than a deliberate attempt in SP2 to eliminate the competition (as was done to Lotus, DRDOS, Netware etc).
Most likely related to the fact that you can do remote debugging with .NET (and this probably has to be punched through the new security features now, vs. ‘just working’ before).
>”Then I suppose Internet Explorer won’t work with SP2? =)”
>
>Funny you should say that. I’ve heard it kills Mozilla dead
>but also causes IE to crash randomly. Obviously Mozilla can
>and must be fixed, and IE will presumably be wholly working
>by the time SP2 is finally released.
>
>I’ve also heard that NX kills Mozilla on Linux too, and the
>problem is caused by some kind of self-modifying weirdness
>rather than a deliberate attempt in SP2 to eliminate the
>competition (as was done to Lotus, DRDOS, Netware etc).
I really hope (and believe) that Mozilla will work with SP2. And I also believe that IE will work. Don’t think they will release it if it’s not.
Ofcourse one can discuss the possibility that Microsoft eliminates competition by not “allowing” other programs to work, but I don’t think this is the case, just like you said.
“Hang on, I aready did that i use Core 1.
Life is sweet
Phil”
Whats “Core 1”???