For those of you who consider yourself to be early adopters, Microsoft has just released a public beta version of Windows Service Pack 2.
Fred Langa warns “beta means an ‘unfinished prototype’. All betas carry risks, and can be hard to undo if or when they cause problems. But operating system betas are even riskier because they change the very foundation of your system software. Unless you have a safe test environment such as a second PC; and/or unless you have a complete image-based backup of your entire system and are prepared to use it; don’t fool around with OS betas.”
Meanwhile, Fred offers 10 Ways to Make Windows XP Run Better and 10 More Ways to Make Windows XP Run Better.
C|NET responds to a member question …

Is there an easy way for Windows to always maximize a window size when I launch an application? Windows has forgotten my settings.
—Submitted by Karen C. of Birmingham, AL

The simple way is to:
1. Open an application (such as Excel).
2. Maximize the window using the Maximize button in the top-right corner.
3. Hold either Shift or Ctrl on your keyboard and close the application window by pressing X or File > Close/Exit.
ZDNet’s David Berlind writes, “Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) promises to help us cut telephone costs and pave the way for converged data and voice networks that can deliver advanced communications applications to users, anytime, anywhere. However, the promises of VoIP may not be enough to meet the business requirements of enterprises. In our Webcast, we evaluate the benefits of VoIP versus the risks, looking at quality of service, security, infrastructure requirements and other key criteria”.
Meanwhile, ZDNet’s Mike Ricciuti writes that Microsoft’s long-promised beta version release of Longhorn — the next iteration of Microsoft’s OS — will most likely have to wait until next year as Microsoft set out to bolster Windows XP security, in light of the plethora of Trojan, worm, malware, spyware and other attack of its current OS.
Plus, happy days are here again: there’s a new version of WinAmp available.

Tech week in review

As last week wore to a close, it was difficult to tell the April Fools’ jokes from the actual news.
File swappers across Canada found some shelter from the Net’s copyright storm, but the ruling by a Canadian federal court judge declaring the download of mp3s for personal use as a legal activity was far from welcome news in other parts of the world.
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, a worldwide recording industry association based in London, announced an initial round of 247 suits against alleged file sharers. The IFPI said it plans to bring additional lawsuits in other countries over the coming months, after filing criminal complaints in Italy and Germany, and civil litigation in Denmark and Canada.
Meanwhile, the Recording Industry Association of America continued to pile on lawsuits against our neighbours to the south, filing new litigation against another 532 anonymous individuals just last week.
Interestingly, as published earlier on VanRamblings, a study of file sharing’s effects on music sales says online music trading appears to have played little part in the recent slide of CD sales. According to the report, by researchers at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina, even high levels of file swapping seemed to translate into an effect on album sales that was “statistically indistinguishable from zero,” they wrote. “We find that file sharing has only had a limited effect on record sales. While downloads occur on a vast scale, most users are likely individuals who would not have bought the album even in the absence of file sharing.”