Service Pack 6 for Windows NT 4.0 Goes Beta

This week heralds the release of Service Pack 6 (SP6) Beta 1 for Windows NT 4.0. SP6 will include an updated set of fixes for NT Server 4.0, NT Server 4.0 Enterprise Edition, and NT Workstation 4.0. Like all Microsoft service packs, SP6 for Windows NT 4.0 will include all fixes for known customer issues. Microsoft representatives detailed the following fixes, which will be new to SP6:

•A fix for a memory leak that occurs while editing a RAS phonebook entry

•A fix for the DNS server (currently, a "Server Unknown" directive in the boot file causes the DNS server to fail to start)

•At least one documented blue screen

As with SP5, SP6 is not a required update. Microsoft recommends that, when SP6 is made available to the general public, users check the online documentation to determine whether SP6 is right for them. Microsoft representatives emphasized that SP6 will not be necessary for Y2K readiness. All known Y2K fixes are available in SP5. If Microsoft discovers any new Y2K-related problems before releasing SP6, the company will release relevant fixes separately for SP4 and SP5 systems and include the fixes in SP6.

SP6 Beta 1 will be available for Microsoft’s premiere customers at technical beta sites. Although Microsoft representatives could not provide specific information on the release date of the final version of SP6, a general release of the new service pack will probably be available in approximately 60 days.