MS updates WinXP, USB 2.0 and Bluetooth imminent

Microsoft has released a raft of new updates for Windows XP, including a second application compatibility update. The company is also poised to add USB 2.0 support early next year, and Bluetooth by mid-2002. Carpers might wonder in what sense WinXP was therefore "finished" at the time it shipped, but the nicer way to think about it is that the Windows Update service allows Windows development to be a continuous work in progress, while nevertheless keeping users up to date fairly effectively.

Given that most home and small business users will tend to have their machines set to automatically download and install updates, it just might turn out to be the case that these users will turn out to be more protected against security issues than corporate users, whose updates will more frequently be centrally controlled, and therefore more haphazard. The current batch includes an IE6 secuirty update, a couple of patches for remote assistance, CD burner and Movie Maker updates and the application compatibility update.

Interestingly enough, the latter includes support for products which - according to their manufacturers - do not run under Windows XP. Symantec, for example, made a big noise about the XP compatibility of Norton Antivirus 2002, and steadfastly insists that NAV 2001 is not XP compatible. But the latest from Microsoft does indeed include an update for 2001. Symantec also, as we've mentioned before, has a patch for NAV 7.5 Corporate in the depths of its site, but it doesn't noise this about either.

Also in the list we have Easy CD Creater (sic) 4.02 from Roxio. Roxio is busily promoting 5.x for XP, and has this to say about 4.x compatibility:

Q. Is Easy CD Creator 4.x compatible with Windows XP?
A. No
Q. Will Easy CD Creator 4.x be supported in Windows XP?
A. No
Q. What are the upgrade options for customers with Easy CD Creator 4.x?
A. These products are not supported under Windows XP, however a downloadable free trial version of Easy CD Creator 5.1 Basic will be available for download from our website.

Ever get the feeling somebody thinks it's time you bought a whole new product from them?

Other products covered in the compatibility update include various versions of McAfee VirusScan, Nero 5.5, DreamWeaver 4.0 and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The latter is we believe the one on DVD from Disney, and not the museum piece worm from Mr Hahaha. ®