SP2 is now available...

Terry

So maybe now is the time to go out and buy it?
/Glenn

thanks for info and for others here is the URL
http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/sp/default.asp

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Rajesh Parikh
Microsoft Certified Solution Developer

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Not yet.  SP2 appears to have fixed two things.  One has to do with older
apps using the DLLs (my take on this) and another has to do with legal
issue.  So, as far as IDE and other bugs (Sockets) they are not fixed yet.
SP3 will hopefully fix those.

Is it just me or do they spend a lot of effort on the SP2 page to try and
convince everyone that the problems in the DLLs have to do with all the
older apps being buggy?  Maybe its TRUE, but it seems fishy.

Steve

You can find out the issues fixed with Service Pack 2 at the following
URL:

<http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q214/5/91.asp>

According to the information at this URL, there are only two Visual C++
issues that have been addressed in Service Pack 2 that were not
addressed in Service Pack 1. One issue has to do with an Invalid Page
Fault occurring in Msvcrt.dll when an application overwrites past the
block of memory owned by a particular object (i.e., a bug in the
application). The other issue has to do with an Application Error
occurring when memory is freed multiple times (i.e., a bug in the
application).

So the *only* issues addressed with Service Pack 2 are those that cause
a buggy application to crash that previously didn't crash. In other
words, Microsoft is admitting that it's acceptable to have bugs in your
application and that they will put out a Service Pack just to accomodate
your buggy application. This indeed sounds very fishy.

--Matt Brunk

Correct me if I'm wrong, but:

All applications have bugs.
Most applications are tested on a target platform before release.
The public buy some applications from companies other than Microsoft.

Then, when companies that buy microsoft products write a program that
*appears* to work, and release that to the public, and that same product
works for 2 or 3 years without an issue, and then Microsoft issues new DLL's
which replace functionality at the C run-time library level.  Magically
programs stop working.

The semantics might be slightly different, but not however, the published
semantics.

Is it wrong for Microsoft to make improvements that ostensibly benefit
everyone?  Maybe we should go back to the bad old days, and statically link
everything into our own code.  Then we have bugs forever, and must
continually reissue code to customers.  We also use up more space on the
customers hard disk.

Alternatively, we can take the rough with the smooth, and rely on Microsoft
to improve matters.

FWIW:  I believe that Microsoft did this heap bodge to prevent them having
to sort out the problems with Hyperterminal, etc., which was bundled with
windows itself, and is broken by the problem.  Given two solutions
(re-releasing all affected programs, or bodging the DLL), they chose the
same solution I would have, to maximise the benefit to everyone.

In addition, the fix seems to have been present on the Critical Updates
site.  Unfortunately for us developers, it was described as being associated
with Microsoft Library, not MSVCRT.DLL.

Tony Wieser
Wieser Software Ltd.