Details emerge on Windows XP Service Pack 1
As Service Pack 1 for Windows XP goes out to beta testers, new details are emerging about its most prominent feature: The ability to remove user access to Internet Explorer and other Microsoft implementations of so-called "middleware."
In fact, installing SP1 only removes shortcuts and icons in the process of changing the default middleware settings; no programs are actually removed. For example, even if a user or OEM sets a non-Microsoft browser as the default browser, Internet Explorer can still be launched by choosing Run from the Start menu and typing IEXPLORE.
Keeping an executable version of IE on the system is necessary to maintain support for many third-party applications that invoke the browser by executing IEXPLORE.EXE. Perhaps more importantly, it is necessary to maintain support for Windows Update and Office Update, the special Microsoft Web sites that provide patches, drivers, and other updates to Windows and Microsoft Office. When Windows Update is selected from the Start/All Programs menu or from the Help and Support Center, Internet Explorer is launched to access the update site.
After installing Service Pack 1, Windows XP's Automatic Updates feature will continue to operate as before, offering users a choice of notification and download options for some updates. But not all updates to the operating system and applications are available through Automatic Updates.
Windows Update and Office Update both rely on ActiveX controls (which are native code programs) to communicate with the server and scan the local computer to determine which updates have been installed and which haven't. The controls also assist in downloading and installing the updates.
While it's possible for other browsers to implement ActiveX (for example, there is a Mozilla ActiveX project), Internet Explorer is the only shipping browser that supports ActiveX controls, so Windows XP users must use IE to receive updates to Windows XP and Microsoft Office.
In the recent remedy proceedings following the antitrust trial, Microsoft claimed that forcing them to remove middleware such as Internet Explorer would be problematic, and this seems to be a compelling example. The plaintiff states suggested that Windows XP Embedded demonstrated that removing Internet Explorer is feasible for the desktop version of Windows XP, but the states' suggestion does not address the fact that embedded applications don't anticipate users dynamically updating the operating system through the Internet.
Due to the imposing size of Service Pack 1, Microsoft is also preparing technology to perform differential updates, so that users need only download the portions of the service pack that they have not already installed. Other significant parts of the service pack, including the .Net Framework, are optional components.
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