Sender: Windows NTBugtraq Mailing List <NTBUGTRAQ@LISTSERV.NTBUGTRAQ.COM>
From: Russ <Russ.Cooper@RC.ON.CA>
Subject:      Re: Alert: NT4 SP6 now available - final release
To: NTBUGTRAQ@LISTSERV.NTBUGTRAQ.COM

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FYI, the URL included in my last message does link to the Final
Release of SP6 and not a Beta.

Official announcement to the general public is expected tomorrow,
after which you'll find SP6 in its normal locations (for non-Premier
customers). One would assume that all references to SP5 being the
latest will be updated to reflect the release of SP6.

Other points of interest:

1. If you order the CD today they'll tell you its "backordered".

2. SP6 is not a "must apply" SP, see;


http://www.microsoft.com/ntserver/nts/downloads/recommended/PREM_SP6/updates.asp

for a complete list of fixes included in SP6 and determine whether or
not you need to apply it.

3. Someone pointed out that some hardware drivers have been made
"obsolete" and are not included in the SP6 download, but are included
on the CD. This is common practice, and **generally** does not mean
the hardware will not function with the SP applied. **HOWEVER**, it is
always a very smart move to check with your hardware vendors and make
sure they acknowledge that they're drivers will work with the SP. Some
may not! The SP readme file tries to include all **known** issues with
given hardware drivers, but if the configuration has not been tested,
or the vendor has not tested/reported test results to Microsoft, then
they cannot say one way or another.

The fact that SP6 has been in beta test for several months should help
to minimize such issues, but its no guarantee, and certainly should
not prevent you from asking your vendors directly yourselves.

4. Some people have pointed out the fact that there are already
post-SP6 hot fixes available on Microsoft's FTP site. This fact did
not mean that SP6 had been released. Expect this to happen in the
future (e.g. with SP7). When Microsoft freezes the inclusions for a
given SP, fixes made after that date are going to be post-SPx, even
though the SP may not actually be released yet. This is to ensure that
the beta testing results provide an accurate dataset. The alternative
is to start the beta testing phase over, and over, each time a new fix
is developed.

This issue is going to cause some confusion, no doubt about it. See my
next message for more information about this issue.

5. Finally, before sending me a message saying that a link doesn't
work, try looking at the entire message first. Assuming that any links
are wrapped, and that means you will have to unwrap them to be able to
make it work. In Outlook, this can be done by choosing to reply to the
message, then simply deleting the carriage return at the end of the
first line of a URL (which will cause the rest of the URL to be
highlighted and allowed as a link).

Cheers,
Russ - NTBugtraq Editor

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