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That's right! The Redmond company has moved forward with the building of XP SP3 and Vista SP1, and made one more step closer to their respective release to manufacturing dates. In this context, new builds of XP SP3 and Vista SP1 are available for download. Microsoft has officially confirmed the two fresh and updated test versions of XP SP3 and Vista SP1.

The only catch at this point is that the two new milestone releases of XP SP3 and Vista SP1 were dropped to an exclusive pool of Microsoft testers, no more than 15,000 of them, the same in fact that got the private bits for Vista SP1 RC Refresh. Through Microsoft Connect, the testers can access Windows XP Service Pack 3 release Candidate Refresh 2. Wait a minute, Refresh 2? Well, the Refresh version of Vista SP1 RC Build 17128 was dropped in the second week of January 2008. At that time, indications coming from Microsoft also pointed to the existence of a XP SP3 RC Refresh 1 Build. You were able to read about the XP SP3 Refresh right here on Softpedia.

And if you are among the selected Microsoft testers with Connect access, you will also be able to get your hands on the bits for XP SP3 RC Refresh 2. But an evolved version of XP SP3 RC is not the only thing that Microsoft has in store for you in terms of service pack testing milestone releases.

Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Release Candidate Refresh 1 Build 17128 was released privately in early January 2008 and then made available to the public. Now, Vista SP1 RC Refresh 2 follows it, after barely two weeks. Microsoft of course still has the first quarter of 2008 and the first half of this year as deadlines for the delivery of Vista SP1 and XP SP3. Still, the moment when the code for the two service packs will go gold is a tad closer. In fact, Vista SP1 and XP SP3 are synchronized with Windows Server 2008, and when the server operating system will RTM in early February 2008, so will the service packs.