HelpWithWindows Newsletter

01. Microsoft: Windows 2000 Update Rollup Ready Next Week?

by Arie Slob

Hello Windows users,

At the end of November last year, Microsoft announced it will produce an Update Rollup for Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 (SP4), instead of making a full Windows 2000 Service Pack 5.

The Update Rollup will contain all security-related updates produced for Windows 2000 from the time that SP4 was released. The Update Rollup will contain only a limited number of important non-security updates.

"The [quality assurance] tests are done, and it's ready to go. An announcement is imminent," a Microsoft source told Ziff Davis Internet News.

The Update Rollup comes just one month before mainstream support for Windows 2000 client and server releases expires on June 30.

Windows 2000 systems with SP4 and the Update Rollup will be considered "up-to-date" from a life-cycle policy perspective until the end of life (EOL) date of Windows 2000. The EOL date will be no sooner than January 1, 2010.

The Update Rollup will ship as a "critical update" via the Windows Update mechanism.

For some additional information you should visit the Windows 2000 Update Rollup FAQ.

02. No Internet Explorer 7 for Windows 2000

On the day (27th May) I send you last weeks Newsletter, and informed you of some details on the upcoming Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) Web browser, another piece of information was released to the official IEBlog: IE7 will not be available on Windows 2000.

The poster (a Microsoft IE Team Member) explained: "First, support for both IE 5.01 SP3 and IE 6 SP1 on Windows 2000 SP3 will expire. Users running IE 5.01 or IE 6 SP1 on Windows 2000 should upgrade to Windows 2000 SP4 in order to continue to receive security updates."

"Second, Windows 2000 SP4 moves from mainstream to extended support. The key difference between mainstream support and extended support which I think is most relevant to this audience is this quote from the lifecycle site: "Microsoft will not accept requests for warranty support, design changes, or new features during the extended support phase." We will of course continue to keep our Windows 2000 SP4 customers secure with security updates through the life of Windows 2000 (through 2010)."

The poster continues with: "It should be no surprise that we do not plan on releasing IE7 for Windows 2000. One reason is where we are in the Windows 2000 lifecycle. Another is that some of the security work in IE7 relies on operating system functionality in XPSP2 that is non-trivial to port back to Windows 2000."

Internet Explorer 7 will be available in beta this summer.

03. Recommended Web sites

Each month we will feature a few Web sites here, ones which sent us the most visitors to our Web site in the previous month. We would encourage you to visit these popular Web sites yourself!

Here are some sites in the Top 15 for May 2005:

Active Network Forums - Windows, Mac, DVD & Xbox forums.
SpyWare BeWare! - Anti-SpyWare forum.
Infopackets - Windows Newsletter for new and intermediate computer users.
TechRepublic - "Real World, Real Time, Real IT".

The Top 15 sites are listed on our Web site.

04. Recent Support BBS Postings

Poll: WindowsBBS needs a slogan...

I find Task Manager Interesting - Windows XP
Takes forever to log on - Windows Server System
Importing my e-mails from Outlook to Outlook Express - Outlook Express
System Info Won't Open - Windows XP

05. Microsoft: Start Something Amazing Awards

What's your passion? Cooking? Music? Raising your kids? Tell us how software and devices that run on Microsoft Windows have helped you bring your passion to life, and you could win great prizes.

Start Something Amazing Awards [USA Only]

06. MicrosoftOffice 2003 Add-in: Calendar Views

With the Calendar Views Add-in, you can easily create and manage filters to display subsets of appointments in Outlook Calendar. Filtered views are based on labels and categories that you apply to appointments.

Supported Operating Systems: Windows 2000 SP2, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP

Works with: Microsoft Office Outlook 2003

Engilsh [736 KB]
ReadMe File

07. Windows XP Tip: Using & Tuning ClearType Font Smoothing

ClearType triples the horizontal resolution available for rendering text through software so that the result is clearer display of text on a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screen with digital interface. But don't let that lead you to believe it's only good on an LCD display! If you have a good quality CRT display, you may also benefit from ClearType. For CRT users it seems a matter of taste, but why don't you try it?

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