Introduction

Microsoft has two main updating policies for released products:

• Service Packs
• Hotfixes

The Service Packs are major updates that incorporate all previous hotfixes and service packs as well as (occationally) introducing new functionality. Thus, the service packs are cumulative. The latest Service Pack for Windows 2000 is SP4.
To get a feeling about the extent of such a service pack's complexity see the list of bugs fixed in that service pack - available here (opens in a separate browser window).

Hotfixes on the other hand are minor updates aimed at fixing one or a few particular (mostly) security issues in a particular program or program module.

SP 4 for Windows 2000 was made available from Microsoft late 2003, and a new service pack - SP5 - was expected to be available in 2005.

However, 25 November this year Microsoft announced that there will be no further service packs for Windows 2000. Instead Microsoft will issue an Update Rollup expected to be available mid-2005.

Potential Implications

According to Microsoft the difference between Service Packs and Update Rollups is:

Service packs are good for delivering a large number of important updates and new features that customers are requesting Microsoft to ship prior to the next major operating system release.

Update rollups are good for delivering a select group of updates, as an interim release vehicle, when there will be longer than usual gaps between service packs. Later in a product’s life-cycle, update rollups also are a good mechanism for making it easier for customers to keep their systems up to date without requiring them to deploy all available updates.

One may therefore conclude that Update rollups are significantly less complex.

Since Microsoft states that "SP4 becomes the final service pack for Windows 2000", it seems safe to assume that this is the first step from Microsoft in reducing the support for Windows 2000, thereby trying to get its customers to change to another of Microsoft's operating system well before Microsoft's support for Windows 2000 is finally stopped (in 2010). (The link opens in a separate browser window.)

More information

You may find more information about the topic discussed in this Security Information from the following links.

• Microsoft's "Windows 2000 Update Rollup Announcement"
• Microsoft's "Frequently Asked Questions About the Windows 2000 Update Rollup Announcement"

Per Olav Førland