Postal address required post XP SP2 ?

One wonders at their ability to last long term. Their business model is fundamentally challenged as is. In this day and age, a licensed and paying software customer should not have to rely on the US postal service to get software components that they own a license for.

Case in point, I have a Windows workstation (who doesn't), which runs a full cost client license for xp, one of the $300+ babies, not an OEM license. It runs fine, is serviceable, rarely crashes, etc. All the things you expect from a modern OS. Recently I required IIS server on it, as my old IIS dev server finally bit the big one.

No problem right? Just install IIS from the XP CD. Well here is the interesting problem which appears to require the US mail to address.

When I added my update to SP2 via the Windows update function I made my original CD essentially useless. I am unable to install IIS from the XP SP1 disk, as it is looking for newer SP2 files. I did some searching on Google and found I am not the first to encounter this. There is the SP2 update available via the MS Web Site.

I also found the ability to fix this issue (from Microsoft). IF you have both the SP1 CD AND the SP2 CD. (Just how many people is that in the world right now? I'm may be going out on a limb but the number is a very very small % or SP2 users). Here is where Microsoft's model is breaking, to get a copy of the SP2 update CD, I have to order one, pay for it to be delivered, and wait for the US post.

Since the client I am doing this for would laugh at the suggestion that we put the project on hold for a week while I wait for software to be delivered via the mail, I kept searching.

I then found some instructions on how to slipstream the downloaded copy of the SP2 patch into the SP1 files, and burn your own CD. This seemed far more reasonable. Although as you notice this is not a Microsoft KB article, so while this is possible, it is not something Microsoft wants you to know about.

After a long time, I ended up with a directory that for all intents and purposes was an XP SP2 CD. Good news right ? Wrong. The IIS installation routine would not accept the resulting directory which was XP with SP2 merged in via update.

Ugghhh, now remember, this is to install a software component that is part of the operating system I paid for, and paid good money for. Had this been open source software I could have downloaded the latest CD free of charge via the web, and would probably have found a troff of documentation outlining the process I would need to follow.

Microsoft does not make this type of download service available for paying customers because their software might be stolen, iow they do not trust their customers. Well who could blame them? But this is the heart of the problem they face in their next 5 years. How can you bill yourself as a business partner to someone it is clear you don't trust from your very basic interactions with?

Ultimately it turned out that there is an update to the security database that you can make to fix this issue. I could find no KB article from Microsoft on this method. In fact they do mention this tool, in their documentation on troubleshooting, but not with the /p switch which seemed to fix the issue.

This brings me to another challenge they face. Because the source is closed, their are a finite number of knowledgeable people to investigate and work on issues. This is one of the reasons that even after you pay $300+ for the program that makes your PC work (the OS), you have to pay another $250 to ask a question about why something doesn't work. This would be money you would pay in addition to your time waiting on hold, in a support queue, and explaining your issue to multiple helpdesk personnel. Many time they have solid 'English as a second language' skills, and very few technical skills other than searching the same knowledgebase you have access to.

Add to this they continue their monopoly on technical information about their closed product via their web site. Some portions of which don't work well in browsers from other companies, so if you use a Mac or Linux machine to search for answers you may find the articles which might contain the answers will not render your browser.....

All of this points to inefficiencies in their overall processes. Inefficiency raise costs, and ultimately these will be the costs that sink the ship as it is built today.

I wish Mr. Ozzie good luck with these challenges.