Vista SP1 RC Leaves XP SP2 in the Dust, but What About XP SP3?
Although Microsoft has indicated a strong disapproval of benchmarking tests involving development milestones of Windows Vista Service Pack 1, the temptation is simply too big to ignore.
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17.1.2008 Microsoft Makes Its Own Vista SP1 vs. XP SP2, Leaves XP SP3 Out
Ever since the advent of Window Vista, at the end of November 2006 for businesses and in January 2007 for the general public, Microsoft has virtually invited the comparison between the two operating systems.
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8.5.2008 Microsoft Updates the Documentation Associated with XP SP3 RTM Build 5512
Microsoft has wrapped up Windows XP SP3 since April 21, 2008, when the Redmond company released the service pack to manufacturing.
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7.5.2008 Starting today, July 10, 2008 - Windows XP SP3 Is Live via Automatic Updates
The third and last service pack for the 32-bit version of Windows XP has debuted on the path to automatic distribution today, July 10, 2008. Initially, Microsoft was shy about pinpointing the actual deadline for XP SP3's availability through Automatic Updates, and only referenced an abstract "early summer" in order to give users a clue as to when they should get ready.
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10.7.2008 Vista SP2 and XP SP3 Get Windows 7s AutoPlay-AutoRun
Even before the release of Windows 7 Release Candidate Build 7100 Microsoft announced that it would take extreme measures in order to increase end user protection and amputate the AutoPlay/AutoRun feature of the operating system.
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26.8.2009 Windows XP SP3 Brings the Death of SP2 - July 13, 2010
The advent of Windows XP Service Pack 3 has brought with it the proverbial "beginning of the end" for its predecessor, Service Pack 2.
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19.5.2008 Vista SP2 and XP SP3 June 2009 Patches ISO Image Available
This month’s release addresses 31 total vulnerabilities with 15 rated as “1” on our Exploitability Index, meaning there is a high likelihood that reliable exploit code may be developed in the next 30 days,” stated Jerry Bryant, Sr. security program manager lead.
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12.6.2009 Connect Windows 7 with XP SP3 Vista SP2 via Remote Desktop Connection 7.0
Microsoft is gearing up to release a tool that will permit users of Windows Vista and Windows XP computers to connect to Windows 7 machines, and to take advantage of features that only the latest version of the Windows client brings to the table.
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12.9.2009 Vista SP2 and XP SP3 Patch Security Release ISO Image Available
A DVD5 ISO image file containing all the security bulletins made available on November 10th, 2009 for all supported Windows platforms, is now up for grabs via the Microsoft Download Center.
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13.11.2009 Download Windows 7 Remote Desktop Connection 7.0 for XP SP3 and Vista SP1 and SP2
While Windows 7 technologies are, as a general rule, available exclusively with the latest iteration of the Windows client from Microsoft, there also are exceptions.
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4.11.2009 Windows 7 – 20 Features to Make Users Forget Vista SP1/SP2 and XP SP3
Microsoft is currently moving onward with the development of Windows 7, having passed Milestone 3 with the operating system.
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15.11.2008 How to Perform a Full Manual Defrag of Your HDD under Vista
If you have tried doing a defragmentation of your hard disk under Windows Vista, you would have noticed that the defrag utility does not really give you any detailed information about your hard disk fragmentation level, show you the defragmentation progress while defragging, and in certain situations even defragment when you ask it to. Thanks to myhousefor this article.
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24.9.2007 Microsoft to push Windows Server 2003 SP2 via Automatic Updates on Patch Tuesday
On June 12, this month’s Patch Tuesday, Microsoft will be delivering more than its usual bundle of security fixes and patches for Windows, Office and other products. The company also will be starting to push Windows Server 2003 Service Pack (SP) 2 to customers via its Automatic Updates patching mechanism.
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10.6.2007 It's Time to Face the Ugly Truth, SP3 or No SP3, the Clock Is Ticking for Windows XP
As 2008 has kicked in, it's now time to face the ugly truth. The clock is ticking for Windows XP. And while Microsoft may view this as a natural stage in the evolution of a product introduced all the way in 2001, a healthy proportion of end-users and businesses will fail to see eye to eye with the company on this one.
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5.1.2008 XP: Get Updates No Matter What or Change your Product Key
If your windows installation has issues, or for some other unmentionable reason is unable to get updates from the windows server, this is what you need to do.
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27.3.2006 New Updates Available on MDC for Vista/XP/Server 2003
Microsoft have released a few updates on the Microsoft Download Center to resolve various issues in Vista/XP/Server 2003. Thanks to pacpis for this news.
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25.7.2007 Updates and Task Manager Disabled by New Windows XP Worm
The Windows functions are always under attack because disabling a vital function of the operating system automatically means an open door for the hacker, who would be able to infiltrate into the computer and conduct his malicious activities.
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24.1.2008 Microsoft Hands out XP SP3 beta – Final SP for XP
In an email sent to selected testers telling them they have been accepted to begin testing XP SP3, Microsoft has also informed them that this will be the final Service Pack for the now aging OS.
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5.10.2007 Vista SP1 vs. XP SP2 - Benchmarked
Some people are concerned that in order to get an accurate measurement of boot time the system needs to be booted many times. Let me assure you that the systems here under testing were rebooted more times than most normal PCs are over the course of several months.]
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18.2.2008 Rootkits are taking over Windows XP SP2 Machines
According to a recent report on eweek, more than 20% of malware found on machines are stealth rootkits.
Jason Garms, architect and group program manager in Microsoft's Anti-Malware Technology Team, said the open-source FU rootkit ranks high on the list of malicious software programs deleted by Microsoft's monthly Anti-Virus update. The rootkits are being detected and removed from Windows XP (gold) versions but infection rates on XP SP1 and XP SP2 machines are also high.
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7.12.2005 Microsoft: XP SP2 Adoption Lags Overseas
More than a year after Microsoft Corp. shipped Windows XP Service Pack 2 as a massive security-centric OS makeover, customer adoption internationally continues to lag at disappointing levels, according to a senior Redmond executive. Stuart McKee, Microsoft's U.S. National Technology Officer, said the overall install rate of XP SP2 was just shy of 70 percent, but in countries such as Spain and Korea, adoption of the service pack dips into the 50 percent range.
In Japan, Germany and France, the install rate is in the range of 75 percent, McKee said. During a keynote at the Security Summit East here, McKee said Microsoft has so far distributed more than 250 million copies of XP SP2 to provide a hardened shell around the operating system but the low upgrade levels remains a disappointment.
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16.12.2005 Windows XP SP2 Original genuine x86
Thanks to fattodahill for this download. This is the original genuine version of Windows XP (32-Bit). This version does not requires cracks or genuine hacks!
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2.5.2007 More Free Windows to Keep Vista and XP SP2 Company
Without indicating a strong affinity for the open source business model Microsoft is rather generous with its operating systems.
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1.4.2008 XP Availability Extended Despite Vista SP2 and Windows 7
While it is cooking Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista and Windows 7, Microsoft has also managed to further extend the availability of Windows XP. With the 32-bit version of Vista's precursor at Service Pack 3, and at SP2 for the 64-bit flavor, Windows XP will now live until June 2009.
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22.12.2008 XP SP3 Does Not Support Windows XP
Believe it or not, but Microsoft does not support Windows XP with XP SP3. Well, maybe that's not entire true. But it is true nonetheless. End users will find they they are unable to deploy XP SP3 on top of XP. What is the catch?
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16.1.2008 Microsoft: Vista SP1 Will Bring Nothing – Not a Repeat of XP SP2
The motto for the first service pack for Windows Vista should be if you wait for very little, or even nothing at all, then you won't be disappointed.
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31.8.2007 Microsoft Still Shooting at XP SP2 with the Vista Gun – No Kill
Even with the general availability of Vista SP1 and XP SP3, Microsoft is still stuck gunning for Windows XP SP2 with the Windows Vista RTM "arsenal".
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15.5.2008 IE VPC - New Free Editions of Windows XP SP2 Live for Download!
Two new free editions of Windows XP Service Pack 2 are live for download from Microsoft. The offerings are just the latest versions from a series delivered since late 2006, following the release of Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP SP2.
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20.8.2007 Free Windows Vista and XP SP2 Downloads Updated and up for Grabs
This week, Microsoft has updated the set of offerings which permit end users to access free copies of Windows Vista and Windows XP SP2.
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21.3.2008 Windows Update Remover - Uninstall and Remove Windows XP Updates
Many users tend to set their Windows XP Automatic Updates on so that the OS will routinely check the Windows Updates Web site for new high-priority Windows security patches, critical updates, hot fixes, service packs, etc to protect the computer from the latest security threats.
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3.5.2009MS08-030 Re-released for Windows XP SP2 and SP3
Christopher Budd: I wanted to let folks know that weve just re-released
MS08-030. This is to let you know theres a new version of this
security update available for Windows XP SP2 and SP3 customers and to encourage them to deploy these new updates. There are no new updates for the
other versions of Windows discussed in the bulletin.
After we released
MS08-030 we learned that the security updates for Windows XP SP2 and
SP3 might not have been fully protecting against the issues discussed in that bulletin. As soon as we learned of that possibility, we mobilized our
Software Security Incident Response Process (SSIRP) to
investigate the issue.
Our investigation found that while the other security updates were providing protections for the issues
discussed in the bulletin, the Windows XP SP2 and SP3 updates were not.
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19.06.2008Windows XP SP3 Upcoming Release to Automatic Updates
Nick MacKechnie: Microsoft is committed to providing quality products to customers. As part of this commitment, we would like to remind you that
Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) will be released to Automatic Updates shortly. The third service pack to Windows XP includes the previously released
updates and hotfixes to Windows XP, creating a new baseline for servicing.
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07.07.2008Firms need to plan for XP Service Pack 3
Organisations that expect to be running Windows XP in mid-2010 should plan to test and deploy XP SP3, Gartner has advised.
Microsoft is planning to release Windows Vista Service Pack (SP) and Windows XP SP3 will be available in the first half of 2008.
According to Gartner, deploying Windows XP SP3 should be significantly easier than testing and deploying SP2, which many users considered a major
change of the operating system.
Annette Jump, a research director at Gartner, said, "We will probably see a mixture of Vista and
XP SP3 deployments in 2008. Jump believed some businesses would deploy Vista and some could stick with XP, in which case, they would be looking at
installing the SP3 service pack.
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01.12.2007BiPAC Router crashes blamed on Windows XP SP3
Broadband modem/router maker Billion says XP SP3 has been causing its BiPAC 5200-series routers to go into a constant crash and reboot cycle.
The company has produced firmware upgrades that solve the problem.
Although Windows XP SP3 has been available for
manual download from Microsoft since May 6, it has just hit Windows Update as an automatic upgrade, which will cause unexpected problems for owners of
śunpatchedť Billion BiPAC 5200 routers, and possibly other brands or models of router.
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07.06.2008XP SP3: TechNet and MSDN subscribers to get beta in two weeks
Microsoft provided an update on the timing for Windows XP Service Pack (SP) 3 on August 29.
Company officials said on Wednesday
that the Windows team plans to deliver a near-public beta of XP SP3 (its going to all TechNet and Microsoft Developer Network subscribers) by
mid-September.
The final version of XP SP3 is slated to hit some time in the first half of calendar 2008, officials said. (Thats
the same date the Softies have been promising officially for a while now. Microsoft wont be any more specific on XP SP3 timing.)
Company officials did not release a feature set for XP SP3 on August 29. The only new piece of information available was the public-beta due
date.
Microsoft made available to a set of private testers a preview of XP SP3 earlier in August. I saw an alleged fix list at
that time: It consisted of nearly 1,000 items.
The last time Microsoft provided a cumulative update to Windows XP was in 2004,
when it released XP SP2.
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29.08.2007Windows XP SP3 Release Candidate Goes To MSDN
Microsoft made available on December 3 for download the near-final Release Candidate (RC) of Windows XP Service Pack (SP) 3.
The
RC is available to all Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) and TechNet subscribers. This isn't yet a generally available, "public" RC of XP SP3;
that is still coming at some future date that Microsoft hasn't disclosed.
Microsoft provided an RC "preview" of XP SP3 to
15,000 testers in mid-November.
Microsoft is still on track to ship the final XP SP3 in the first half of calendar 2008. XP SP3
is a rollup of all previously released XP updates, according to Microsoft, "including security updates, out-of-band releases, and hotfixes."
Lately, Microsoft has been releasing XP SP3 and Vista SP1 builds in lockstep. (The same 15,000 testers that got XP SP3 RC preview also
got the Vista SP1 RC preview.) Given that Microsoft told its own employees to expect the company to make the RC of Vista SP1 more broadly available
some time this week, it seems logical that the Vista SP1 RC is right around the corner, too.
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05.12.2007Windows XP SP3 RC goes to MSDN, TechNet testers
Microsoft made available on December 3 for download the near-final Release Candidate (RC) of Windows XP Service Pack (SP) 3. The RC is available to
all Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) and TechNet subscribers. This isn’t yet a generally available, “public” RC of XP SP3; that is
still coming at some future date that Microsoft hasn’t disclosed. Microsoft provided an RC “preview” of XP SP3 to 15,000 testers in
mid-November.
Microsoft is still on track to ship the final XP SP3 in the first half of calendar 2008. XP SP3 is a rollup of all previously
released XP updates, according to Microsoft, “including security updates, out-of-band releases, and hotfixes.”
Lately,
Microsoft has been releasing XP SP3 and Vista SP1 builds in lockstep. (The same 15,000 testers that got XP SP3 RC preview also got the Vista SP1 RC
preview.) Given that Microsoft told its own employees to expect the company to make the RC of Vista SP1 more broadly available some time this week, it
seems logical that the Vista SP1 RC is right around the corner, too.
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04.12.2007Windows XP SP3 Release Candidate 2 via Windows Update
Microsoft yesterday made Service Pack 3 RC2 available to both testers and the general public. They have provided a small script to run on your XP SP2
machine that will allow for SP3 to be available through Windows Update.
The build, now at v3311, cannot be installed over previous SP3
betas. Versions of Windows XP Service Pack 3 prior to Release Candidate 2 should be removed before attempting to use the registry key. Windows Update
will not offer Release Candidate 2 to machines with previous versions of the Windows XP Service Pack 3 beta.
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20.02.2008Wanted: New information on XP SP3
If Microsoft officials don't
want you to know about Vista
Service Pack (SP) 1, you can
be darn well sure they really
don't want to talk about
Windows XP Service Pack (SP)
3. But customers definitely
want to discuss it.
XP users who still
aren’t crazy about the
idea of moving to Vista are
quite interested in the status
of the long-promised update to
Windows XP. (Microsoft
released the most recent XP
update, XP SP2, way back in
the summer of 2004.) I get
queries from readers weekly
about when XP SP3 will hit and
what it will likely include.
There was a flap
earlier this year regarding
Microsoft
possibly changing the due date
for XP SP3. Microsoft
officials have been saying for
the past few months that the
company would not provide the
final XP SP3 until some time
in the first half of 2008. In
late May, however, there was
a
mention in a Microsoft press
release that XP SP3 would ship
"some time later this
year." Microsoft's
official response was that the
2007 date was a typo. (Yeah,
tha
t "typo" defense again.)
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19.07.2007Windows XP SP3 RC1 Public Download Available
Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) includes all previously released updates for the operating system. This update also includes a small number of new
functionalities, which do not significantly change customers experience with the operating system.
File Size: 336,070 KB
See
here for more info.
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12.12.2007Windows XP SP3 now available via Windows Update
Windows XP SP3 is finally here for those that use Windows
Update, and
here is a direct link to the stand-alone version of SP3 for x86 XP systems (32 bit). Thanks
Bink! I can't confirm if the 64bit version of SP3
is available from today, can anyone confirm?
Here is an interesting
article regarding SP3 performance, ignoring the fact that Vista SP1 is still faster than XP SP2/SP3 users will enjoy a performance boost
over SP2. When will people learn that Vista ain't all bad!
Windows® XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) includes all previously released
updates for the operating system. This update also includes a small number of new functionalities, which do not significantly change customers’
experience with the operating system.
This white
paper summarizes what is new in Windows XP SP3.
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29.04.2008Windows XP SP3 available for Windows Embedded for Point of Service and WinFLP
This download is a Service Pack 3 (SP3) update for Windows Embedded for Point of Service (WEPOS) and Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs (WinFLP).
This SP3 update includes all previously released Windows XP security updates, hotfixes, and select out-of-band releases that are applicable to systems
running the WEPOS and WinFLP operating systems.
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08.10.2008How to deploy XP SP3 in an existing wired 802.1x environment
Clay Seymour: Prior to SP3, the 802.1x service for XP is the Wireless Zero Configuration Service. This service handles the 802.1x needs for both
wired and wireless connections. This has been problematic since not everyone uses wired 802.1x. Also, because the wired 802.1x engine listens
passively for EAP Identity traffic, we are not fully compliant with the IEEE spec, which state the client should initiate authentication by sending an
EAPOL-Start frame.
With SP3, we have separated the wireless service from the wired service and created a new Dot3Svc (Wired
AutoConfig). This service is set as a manual start as opposed to being automatic. The default behavior of the Dot3Svc is now compliant with the IEEE
specification.
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23.05.2008Windows XP SP3 release just around the bend?
Though we expected, or rather hoped; for Windows XP SP3 late last month it seems that it may arrive before May. According to an "internal schedule"
obtained over at Engadget, OEMs, volume license, Connect, MSDN and TechNet subscribers will have access to the update on April 21st, while everyone
else won't notice it until April 29th when it hits the Microsoft / Windows Update download center. For those who are too busy to download it and
install it, they might have to wait until June 10th when it hits the Automatic updates.
For those who don't know; Windows XP SP3
(Service Pack 3) will be the third and last major update for Microsoft's Windows XP operating system. The company released a nearly final beta build
of SP3 called Release Candidate 2 Refresh last month to the public. The latest beta version added support for the HD Audio high-definition audio
format and fixes for some issues with the Windows Update service. Microsoft to date has said only that it expects to roll out a final version of
Windows XP SP3 in the first half of 2008.
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16.04.2008Windows XP SP3 Final Available at MajorGeeks
Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) includes all previously released updates for the operating system. This update also includes a small number of new
functionalities, which do not significantly change customers experience with the operating system.
Supported Operating Systems:
Windows XP; Windows XP Home Edition ; Windows XP Home Edition N; Windows XP Media Center Edition; Windows XP Professional Edition ; Windows XP
Professional N; Windows XP Service Pack 1; Windows XP Service Pack 2; Windows XP Starter Edition; Windows XP Tablet PC Edition.
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23.04.2008Despite rumors, Windows XP SP3 still not quite ready
With Windows Vista Service Pack 1 out the door, Microsoft was largely expected to release Windows XP SP3 last week or this week. It didn't, instead
making public a refresh build of SP3 Release Candidate 2...
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26.03.2008Microsoft patched critical Windows bug in XP SP3 early
The appearance and disappearance of a Windows XP installation snafu indicates that Microsoft patched a critical vulnerability in XP's
still-unfinished Service Pack 3 (SP3) weeks before it fixed any other version of Windows. The glitch, which sent some PCs into an endless round of
reboots, was strangely similar to one faced by Vista users in February. Attackers have already tried to exploit that bug, which was patched last
Tuesday -- as it turned out, two weeks after the newest build of Windows XP SP3 was released with the flaw fixed.
According to reports from
multiple users on a Microsoft support newsgroup, PCs began rebooting immediately after they had been updated to SP3. "I have just updated my pc from
xp sp2 to sp3," said a user identified as "yaojinglin" in a message to a SP3 support forum last Thursday. "The installation was successful, but
when I reboot my pc after the installation finished, my pc started to reboot again and again."
On the XP SP3 support threads, a Microsoft
representative named Shashank Bansal stepped into the rebooting discussion, which was beginning to seem as endless as the rebooting itself. Bansal
asked for more information, then offered an explanation: "This issue happens with 3311 build of XP SP3. It happens because KB948590 stops
installation of SP3 version of gdi32.dll on the system due to file-version differences."
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15.04.2008Updated Internet Explorer Application Compatibility VPC Images Available
VPC Hard Disk Image for testing websites with different IE versions on Windows XP SP2, Windows XP SP3 and Windows Vista.
This
download page contains four separate VPC images, depending on what you want to test.
- IE6-XPSP3_VPC.exe contains a Windows
XP SP3 with IE6 VHD file
- IE7-XPSP2_VPC.exe contains a Windows XP SP2 with IE7 VHD file
- IE8B2-XPSP3_VPC.exe
contains a Windows XP SP3 with IE8 Beta 2 VHD file
- IE7-VIS1.exe+IE7-VIS2.rar+IE7-VIS3.rar contain a Vista Image with IE7 VHD
file.
Note: For The Vista image, you will need all three files, downloaded and in the same directory, then simply run
IE7-VIS1.exe.
This VPC image will expire in January, 2009.
winbeta.org -
29.08.2008Daylight Saving Time Update Available For XP SP2 & SP3
Looks like we've got our first XP SP3 update although this was expected as Microsoft had
previously announced that the DST update would not be included with
SP3.
Installing this update enables your computer to automatically adjust the computer clock on the correct date in 2007 and
2008 due to revised Daylight Saving Time laws in many countries. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.
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22.04.2008Microsoft to push XP SP3 via AutoUpdate July 10
Microsoft is going to release Windows XP Service Pack (SP) 3 via its Automatic Update (AU) service on Thursday July 10, company officials confirmed
this week.
The client team has been vague about when it planned to push the latest version of XP to users. "Early summer" and
"sometime soon"were favorite comebacks when officials were asked for an AU timeframe for SP3.
Customers who have automatic updates
turned on but who don’t want XP SP3 to be downloaded to user desktops this week — for whatever reasons — need to deploy the Microsoft Service Pack
blocker toolkit to delay pushed-delivery of SP3.
While Microsoft will begin pushing SP3 tomorrow, not all users will receive it
immediatly, as the company will be staggering the rollout.
Microsoft has postponed and temporarily halted the distribution of SP3 a
couple of times this year because of compatibility and performance problems.
jcxp.net -
10.07.2008
