Microsoft frequently releases patches and updates for Windows and its many applications. Windows includes a feature to download these automatically, although you can check manually by going to Windows Update with Internet Explorer. SP2 is a major update for Windows XP focusing extensively on improving security, and includes updates to Internet Explorer and Outlook.

SP2 focuses on improving the security of Windows XP. A lot of changes are under the hood--things that you won't notice, such as memory and network protection. But others will be visible in Internet Explorer and Outlook. For a very technical article on everything new, read "Changes to Functionality in Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2".

The two biggest changes to Internet Explorer (IE) are the Pop-Up Blocker and the Manage Add-Ons screen, both accessible from the tools menu. In our testing, we found that the Pop-Up Blocker, at its default medium setting, worked pretty well, catching all common types of pop-ups. It places an information bar at the top of the window when it blocks a pop-up, which lets you decide whether to let it through or not. The Manage Add-Ons screen displays all the browser helper objects attached to IE, and lets you disable them.

When you try to download a program at www.phaseone.com, you may need to click the information bar at the top of IE to okay the download.