Microsoft have released a beta of Service Pack 2 for Windows XP to selected testers. It includes significant security enhancements including
- An improved version of Windows Firewall (formerly known as the Internet Connection Firewall). Windows Firewall will be turned on by default. Why wasn't it before?
- Blocking of accidental downloads and installations. Internet Explorer will help protect users from accidentally downloading and installing programs from potentially malicious Web sites by automatically blocking download requests. Users who decide to install a program can click on the download link that will automatically appear below the browser toolbar.
- Pop-up Manager. Internet Explorer will detect that a pop-up or pop-under window is unwanted if it doesn’t directly result from the user’s clicking on a link on a Web page.
- Better file attachment handling in Outlook Express and Windows Messenger. This means that attachments can open and execute with the fewest permissions possible.
- Increased customer control over downloads of external content in Outlook Express. Outlook Express will no longer download external content (such as graphics) in HTML mail by default.
George Petrov is a renowned software writer and developer whose extensive skills brought numerous extensions, articles and knowledge to the DMXzone- the online community for professional Adobe Dreamweaver users. The most popular for its over high-quality Dreamweaver extensions and templates.