XP SP3 out next week?

I found this article.

http://www.crn.com/software/206904757

 

Um, let me recap:
A SP3 build is leaked to torrent sites, and Microsoft explicitly says it's not the final build.

And from that we conclude that... it's the final build?
I'm sorry, but that sounds more than a little bit unlikely to me.

 

Why would XP need another SP anyway?

 

because it is a good OS and deserves to be updated

 

That's exactly why it doesn't need another service pack. Regular updates seem good enough.

 

It's NOTHING new. SP3 is just a culmination of ALL updates/hotfixes since SP2.

 

yea, as long as it dosn't hurt anything, i'll probably install it. I'm not going to get my hopes up for a performance gain either. I'm prettysure i'm set with xp untill windows 7 comes out, or maybe if i get bitten by a mac-bug. Vista's SP1 lookes like a letdown, but its still too soon to tell. Might be the same with this sp3 as well. Just too soon to tell.

 

It needs another service pack to roll together the nearly 100 updates.

 

There are quite a few 'hotfixes' that will be released as general updates at that time. At least a few relate to this like dual core processor optimizations, possible SDHC support, improvements to other core parts of the OS...etc, etc.

 

It's also supossed to boost performance considerably, creating an even greater performance advantage over Vista.

 

Its good news for those that envision re-installing XP again in the future. No more downloading a million seperate updates and restarting the computer 10x.

 

Yes, I wish I had SP3 the other day when I re-installed XP!

 

Just download the latest SP3 RC, works great for just reinstalling XP and saves a hell of alot of time (so what if you have to uninstall it in June to install the full versions save 1+ hours of updates).

 

Funny how stories get exaggerated as they go down the line. It's reported to only increase performance in Office by up to 10%.

 

And to see it with full SATA support would be nice as well......

 

Last night I got SP3 downloaded from Windows update. I wonder why this is at odds with the above information as it seems to be available. However, could someone explain what "RC" means? Thanks

 

RC = Release Candidate.
Normally, in software development, that means exactly what the name implies. You're past beta, and you *think* you're ready for release. You make a release candidate and ship it out to testers. If it works, you ship that as your final product. If problems occur, you go back and fix them, then make a new release candidate.

In Microsoft, it seems that it often just means "yet another beta"

Because when you make a plain SP2 install, you then have to install some 200 updates separately afterwards.

That's SP3's main justification. Rolling all those up into one big update you apply *once*.

They're also backporting a few minor features from Vista while they're at it, but don't expect anything really new.

 

You mean Vista SP1 right? Or XP SP2? RC means release candidate. Near ready to release software.

 

i was using xp pro x86 sp3...i guess the unofficial SP3, and i didnt notice much difference. But i mean its stable and everything, and i guess it offers some more compatibility with newer devices and devices that may have been made to work more towards vista.

 

I can say win XP Pro at the moment should be the best from Microsoft can offer. Using it since it was released. Have RAM of 256 MB, and totally enough for running it smoothly. If SP3 means better XP Pro, i'll definitely got for it.

 

I think this will be the last SP for windows XP before XP will be an OS of the past.

 

Even if that is the only improvement I'd say it's a worthwhile one - for whatever reason Word 2007 seems kind of slow starting up. But I think it's supposed to be somewhat more general than just Office. Think of it this way - even if they only focused on increasing Office performance, the optimizations they make there are bound to help elsewhere as well.

I found the list of featues here. All make sense and seem fairly minor, except I'm not entirely sure what is meant by this one:

I'm guessing this applies to when you have a Windows-XP based network system, like a home network where one computer logs onto the XP-running host? So long as it's something along those lines and not along the lines of User Account Control I'm fine with it.

It will be the last service pack for XP. But it will actually extend XP's regular service time. Right now it's set to expire in April of 2009, but as Microsoft's lifecycle support supports new service packs for at least two years, this means that Microsoft will support XP SP3 until at least March of 2010 (XP SP2, I'm guessing, will still expire for support in April of 2009).

 

I had never experienced NOT getting a tons of updates after a Service Pack. Updates are inevitable. Unless it's for something MAJOR, I don't see any real reason for a SP3 on XP.

 

Thanks for the RC explanation. I did really get the SP3 from Windows update on my PC. That's all I know.

 

With the service pack you'll get maybe 150 fewer updates than you would otherwise though. Of course you'll get new updates as long as XP is supported by Microsoft, but at least with SP3, you won't get all the ones released since SP2 came out and up until now.

 

Hey I can't argue with that. Since I don't use office it wouldn't affect me, but if it's indeed a 10% increase in performance, plus all the latest hotfixes rolled into one package, I can't complain.

 

I wonder though, does anyone know if it will include IE7 (or 8) and WMP 11?

 

Depends on when they release IE8 but they'll include WMP 11 for sure.

 

No IE8 won't be included for sure as it is still in preliminary beta stage. There should be no reason for MS to include WMP 11 as it was offered widely through WU and download center.

 

Maybe. But unless I'm mistaken, WMP 9 was rolled into SP2 (so I would not be surprised if the same was done with WMP 11)....

 

I reckon WM11 will be included. Looking forward to seeing if there is a 10% performance increase.

 

It's yet to be seen if there will be a 10% performance increase in all areas. So far the 10% increase has only been demonstrated by an MS Office benchmarking test. So we'll have to wait and see if this translates to other areas as well, hopefully it will.

 

Even if it doesn't, it's still a worthwhile update.

 

Bah! March 28 seems so far away... lol.

 

Agreed, even if just for the sake of doing a clean install.

 

After the excruciating long wait for vista sp1, 8 days is nothing!

 

I had the final build of SP1 back in January.

Heck, I have the Vista disc with SP1 already integrated sitting right next to me. Just need a computer to use it on is the problem.

 

Did you make that disc or buy it? If you made it can you provide a link that explains how?

 

Mike, send it to me. I'll use it. ^_^

 

I have my sources.



Out.

 

Overview of SP3 to be released on 25th March.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...ad-bc34-40be-8d85-6bb4f56f5110&DisplayLang=en

 

I've been using SP3 Beta since it come out. Good thing is, I only had couple of security updates since.

 

I wonder if XP owners will be able to acquire a full XP SP3 install disk?

 

I was wondering this myself. However seeing as XP sales will cease in June(?), that may be unlikely.....

 

Good find coolguy.

 

It's June now? Then I guess as soon as the retail SP3 disks come out, it will be time to buy.

 

How can I download the newer service packs. My system, which is running pretty nicely, has SP1. I would like to download SP2 (or three if it's been officially released). Is there a guide to service packs somewhere in this forum? If not, would some mind taking the time to explain what I need to do to get the newer SP's for XP?

 

You can try nLite or another Service Pack integrator (google, ).

 

spam regard at the lower post

 

So when does XP SP3 come out?