News
SP5 Makes Surprise Debut
- By Scott Bekker
- 05/05/1999
With little prior warning, Microsoft Corp. today will quietly unveil Service Pack 5 for Windows NT 4.0.
Although Microsoft had confirmed it was working on the latest service pack, most observers were not expecting it to debut this early in the year. SP5 is compatible with Workstation, Server and Enterprise Editions of Windows NT 4.0.
Microsoft has said it would reduce the size and number of changes included in each successive Service Pack.
SP5 includes a cumulative grouping of security patches, post-SP4 Y2K software fixes plus the cumulative content of SP1 through SP4. But unlike other recent Service Packs, SP5 is what Microsoft terms a "featureless" release. Ed Muth, group product manager, Windows Server infrastructure, at Microsoft observes, "SP5 is nowhere near a delta as the previous release."
While Muth says that SP5 resolves minor year 2000 issues that SP4 left unresolved, he notes, "We don't consider it a mandatory release. It is crucial that customers are on SP4."
Service Pack 5 is available as a download or on a CD-ROM. More information on SP5 is available at www.microsoft.com/windows/servicepacks. -- Al Gillen
About the Author
Scott Bekker is editor in chief of Redmond Channel Partner magazine.