Windows Server 2003 SP1 Breaks 14 Apps

As with last year's desktop security update, Windows XP SP2, Microsoft's newest server security upgrade, Windows Server 2003 SP1, breaks 14 applications, including a few from Microsoft itself, the Redmond, Wash.-based company has acknowledged in an online support document.

Windows Server 2003 SP1, which released to manufacturing late in March, is similar to 2004's Windows XP SP2 in that it's more than a roll-up of past security fixes, but changes default settings and includes numerous new features and tools.

Like Windows XP SP2, which initially broke more than 50 applications, Windows Server 2003 SP1 creates problems in some server-based applications.

Microsoft tested 127 server applications on Windows Server 2003 SP1. "The goal of the test teams was to verify that the server applications maintained the same level of functionality that was verified for Windows Server 2003," said the support document.

Among the 14 which failed the tests were some with the Microsoft nameplate, including Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2004 Standard, Exchange Server 2003, and Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003. Other vendors' applications are also affected by the update, ranging from Computer Associates' Brightstor ARCserve Backup 11.0 to Citrix's Metaframe XPe FR3.A complete list of the applications which have been tested and work with Windows Server 2003 SP1, and those which have known issues along with available fixes, if any, can be found on Microsoft's support site.