About backward compatibility of XP SP2: Life has changed ...
I read a lot of comments about the backward compatibility "issues" of Windows XP SP2 and I understand that this could be quite frustrating that an application does not run the way it always did but let me try telling why by using a real life example, not related to IT at all.
I'm living in a very peaceful neighborhood in Belgium around Liège. My wife, Josette, and I really felt good at home. You know, when you want to buy a bread, you just jump in your car, go to the baker, buy your bread and come back home without worrying about anyhting. Of course, when you're back home, you leave your car in front of you home and you don't even close the windows. Life really was great!
However, not so long ago, I left my home, not to go buy a piece of bread but to go and meet my sister. We stayed together say, half an hour, not a long time anyway and when I came back home, what a frustration! All drawers open, DVD player, TV, home theater system all gone, jewelry gone as well ... what a mess! This is a terrible feeling that I had back then.
That feeling, I don't want to have it anymore, never, no, never again. I called a security company and asked for the very best security system allowed by the law. I managed to have such a system not only in my home but also in my car. I had to pull wires all over my house for sensors and video cameras and of course, I had to repaint every single room. I attached sensors to the windows, the doors, etc. I connected my alarm system to my telephone and I managed to have a monitoring contract with a security company. For my car, I installed a system that allowed me not only to locate my car wherever it is, but also to remotely stop the engine. The cost of all that was huge, believe me, but I felt better. Hmm, better ... how good is that? Not really as good as it was before my home had been visited, no really, far from being as good as it was!
Actually, life has dramatically changed! All the things I did, like going to the baker (remember?)... Now, when I want to go to the baker, I have to activate my alarm system, close all the doors with the security keys I have received, deactivate the alarm system of my car, etc, etc. Even simple things such as going to p... at night and you forget you turned the alarm system on! (:-o) Can you imagine, all the things I did before and that were that easy?
Sometimes I wonder why I have done all that. I'm sometime so pissed to turn on the alarm system to go see my sister for half an hour. But when I really think about it, all this energy and money I have put in my home, in my car, really is to feel ... secure and once for all, prevent that terrible feeling from happening again!
Life will never be the same, it has changed, but it's the cost for my new peace of mind after a dramatic experience with a thief!
But, you know, in computer science, we also know that life was easy, that it was very easy to send files by e-mail to a friend, that if was very easy to go read a document at home through RAS but when you get a virus, when sensitive information is stolen, you start understanding that security measures really are necessary. Those security measures cost an awful lot of money, take time to implement and test. After you have them all, you feel better but life has changed ... dramatically! If you understand that feeling, you understand why Windows XP SP2 potentially can prevent you from doing things as easily as you did them before ... but that's the cost for your new IT peace of mind!
Think about it!
Some readings:
