OS X SP 5
Amid all the hype and terror and fear being generated by Microsoft’s Windows XP SP2, Apple released the 5th update to Mac OS X (Panther). The blurb on MacNN says it improves Mail and Web tools, Font support, some stuff for dealing with NTFS-formatted drives and improved video drivers (among other stuff). Performing a not-terribly scientific test at 7:30AM, I booted up and ran UT2004 for a second and it did seem quite a bit more responsive. Oh, and oE|flUrdmunk says, “wtf?! lag!!!!111″.
Is SP2 all that bad? Probably not. IBM, hospitals and most other large IT organizations typically take a long time to certify and roll out a new iteration of an OS and SP2 is no small item. In particular, the way this version of XP interracts with other machines is going to be quite a bit different. The built-in firewall can’t be disabled once it’s installed (although I expect it’s just another service that can be disabled through the admin panel, virus haxors probably have a “patch” for this already) and will most-likely render many games unplayable, IM clients crippled and apps unusable without some tweaking. Granted, this may also be a good thing cutting down on some of the idiots that frequent my favourite on-line games.
If you really want SP2, there are some sites cropping up offering torrents and straight-up downloads of the behemoth 250MB “patch”. Be advised that it will turn on a Firewall that you won’t be able to disable and you will get struck by lighting and you will die! It is inescapable. Microsoft says you should just lie back, close your eyes and turn on automatic updating and let it do all the work for you. Trust them, you’ll enjoy it. This update is recommended for all users.