Microsoft Will Reissue Windows 2000 Rollup

Microsoft will release an updated Update Rollup for Windows 2000 as soon as it's figured out fixes for glitches plaguing some users and preventing some third-party applications from working, the Redmond, Wash.-based developer said Thursday.

The new rollup hasn't been scheduled, according to a document posted to Microsoft's support Web site, saying only that it would be reissued "soon" and that it would incorporate several hotfixes.

At the same time, however, Microsoft downplayed the reissue.

"After the release of Update Rollup 1 for Windows 2000 SP4, we identified several issues that may occur when you install this update rollup. These issues are isolated, and affect few customers," the online document said.

Among the problems that Microsoft acknowledged that users may encounter after installing Update Rollup 1 are issues with several prominent vendors' applications, including those from Citrix, Sophos, Internet Security Systems (ISS), and even Microsoft itself. The latter's Microsoft Office, for instance, won't save files directly to floppy disks after the rollup's been installed.

Earlier, Microsoft had only admitted that five ISS applications wouldn't work after Update Rollup 1 was installed.

"If you are affected by these issues, we suggest that you do not install Update Rollup 1 for Windows 2000 SP4 until the corresponding hotfix is available," Microsoft recommended in the support document.

The rollup's new problems will likely intensify the criticism from users and analysts who expected Microsoft to release a final service pack for Windows 2000 before the aging operating system left mainstream support at the end of June.

At that time, analyst Michael Cherry with Directions on Microsoft called for the company to drop the idea of a rollup and replace it with a service pack.

"At the five-year milestone, when support moves from mainstream to extended support, I think Microsoft should have a final service pack to reset the baseline as to what users have to have installed," Cherry said.

Microsoft stuck by its guns, however, when it released Update Rollup 1 for Windows 2000, then that it would better meet customers' needs than a new service pack, primarily because it wouldn't need as much pre-deployment testing as a typical service pack.

The bugs in the rollup, however, would seem to drop that rationale in the dustbin.