Microsoft's big patch & family PCs

Since Microsoft's releasing SP2, its major PC security patch for Windows XP, today, many families might wonder, "Should we download it?" (Of course some of your PCs are set to download MS updates automatically, so you'll suddenly have it at some point.) The simplest answer seems to be yes, but there aren't really any simple answers in the world of computers. The Washington Post's tech columnist Rob Pegararo likens our PCs to a little country house (with window and door locks not working and a key under the doormat) transported to a very urban setting where security is suddenly an issue. Basically, we need this higher level of security. Fortunately, Rob thoroughly tested SP2 and concluded that it's "a must for XP users," including families. Here's the transcript of a helpful online discussion he had with household users all over the country who might have questions like yours and mine.

But you should also know that SP2 is not perfect. So far it has a number of conflicts with software that may already be on your system. CNET reported 47, though 40 mostly affect business users; seven affect games (your kids probably already know about them!). Here's a list from the Washington Post of software conflicts parents and kids may care about a lot: Zone Labs's Zone Alarm firewall, McAfee Virus Scan, Yahoo Messenger, Real Player, Kazaa, MusicMatch Jukebox, Microsoft Outlook 2002, and 2003 and Adobe's Photoshop Elements. Here's Microsoft's page devoted to these conflicts and its page on how to deal with them.