Hotfix Update Pack (WinXP SP3) No. 5 to be released soon!
After a long wait, TheHotfix Update Pack (WinXP SP3) #5 will be released soon with 30+ new unreleased hotfixes that will most likely be in WindowsXP Service Pack 3! We're sorry it took so long for us to put it together, but we've finally pulled it together thanks in large part to the help of the forum members and community.
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5.2.2006 WinXP Manager 5.1.1
WinXP Manager offers an easy way to optimize, tweak, tune up and clean up Windows XP.
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10.4.2007 Understanding OneCare's integration with Microsoft Update
We have recently been hearing some concerns that Windows Live OneCare has changed settings in Windows Update to allow for automatic installation of important updates, and that some PCs are rebooting as a result.
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26.10.2007 Yahoo Integration in Windows Live Messenger - Coming Soon
At long last we are hearing some more on the Yahoo and MSN interoperability deal that was announced last year, thanks to Leah over at the team blog.
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6.6.2006 Vista Sidebar showcases desktop-Web integration
Long Zheng has published some fantastic Windows Vista screencasts, which display the power of the Vista OS - released as a developer beta last week. The screencast that I was most interested in was the Sidebar. Similar in appearance and functionality to the Dashboard feature of Mac OS X Tiger, the Vista Sidebar allows users to manage their gadgets (Microsoft's term for widgets) and other content such as RSS feeds.
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14.6.2006 Facebook integration coming to Windows Live next week
Microsoft plans to offer 20 new web activities to add to your Windows Live profile within the next week. Currently only 12 of the "activities", which integrate your activity on other websites into the What's New feed on your Windows Live profile page, are available from third-party services such as Flickr, Twitter and StumbleUpon.
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22.4.2009 Update for Identity Integration Feature Pack 1a for Microsoft Windows Server Active Directory (KB884192)
Microsoft has released an update to Identity Integration Feature Pack 1a for Microsoft Windows Server Active Directory.
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21.3.2006 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 The Only Way for Windows XP SP3 Is Down
SP3 will do nothing for XP, but still more than what SP1 will do for Vista - The third and final service pack for Windows XP will do little to nothing for the operating system, but will manage to deliver a superior boost to the platform's momentum in comparison to Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista.
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12.4.2008 Office XP SP3 Info
Office XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) provides the latest updates to Microsoft Office XP. SP3 contains significant security enhancements, in addition to stability and performance improvements. This service pack applies to any level of Office XP.
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Sneak Preview of XP SP3?
An unofficial preview pack containing what purports to be Windows XP Service Pack 3 has been uploaded to The Hotfix web site. The Hotfix is an independently-run site that specializes in downloads and discussions of Windows patches and bug fixes.
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Microsoft Delays XP SP3
Bink has an interesting article up on his site concerning Windows XP SP3. Microsoft has apparently pushed back the scheduled release date of SP3 to the second half of 2007.
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16.1.2006 Windows XP SP3 Preview No. 5
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11.2.2006 Windows XP SP3 On The Horizon
According to Microsoft press release about Unified Access Control and Network Access Protection, Windows XP service pack 3 (SP3) is in development and will be released later this year.
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24.5.2007 Windows XP SP3 Available for Download!
In two weeks too :) Microsoft confirmed officially that Windows XP Service Pack 3 will be made available for download in the next couple of weeks.
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29.8.2007 Windows XP Closes In on SP3
Microsoft's most successful operating system, ever, has inched closer to Service Pack 3. Release Candidate 1 is now available from MSDN and—so I hear—from TechNet. I can only personally confirm MSDN availability.
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4.12.2007 Deploying Windows XP SP3
With a pre-Release Candidate build of Windows XP Service Pack 3 available for download, the imminence of the final version of the refresh is starting to take contour.
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13.12.2007 Should You Upgrade from Vista to XP SP3?
Windows Vista was released to manufacturing and to businesses in November 2006, and the operating system hit the shelves only at the end of January 2007.
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27.12.2007 Will SP3 Save Windows XP?
Will the third and final service pack for Windows XP manage to breath new life into the operating system? Will users and original equipment manufacturers be able to apply enough pressure on Microsoft to keep Windows XP alive?
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15.1.2008 Is Windows XP SP3 just around the corner?
Clues that Microsoft is ready to announce the final version of Windows XP Service Pack (SP) 3 are starting to mount.
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20.2.2008 The First XP SP3 Security Vulnerability
The third and final service pack for Windows XP is not even out, and Microsoft is already hammering away at it plugging security soles.
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14.4.2008 The First Update for XP SP3 RTM
Although it was released to manufacturing on April 21, 2008, the third and last service pack for Windows XP has yet to make it to end users. Despite this, Microsoft has already made available the first update tailored on XP SP3.
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22.4.2008 XP SP3: Now on Windows Update
A week after deciding not to release Windows XP Service Pack (SP) 3 via Windows Update and the Microsoft Download site as planned, Microsoft has begun pushing the collection of updates and fixes through those channels again.
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6.5.2008 It All Comes Down to Going Either for XP SP3 or for Vista SP1
Starting with May 6, 2008, the question is no longer about Windows Vista RTM vs. Windows XP SP2, but rather about Vista SP1 or XP SP3.
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9.5.2008 Minimizing XP SP3 woes
I’m getting sporadic reports of Windows XP users having problems installing XP SP3 on some systems.
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9.5.2008 No Future for Windows XP SP3?
Make no mistake about it, June 30, 2008 is the beginning of the end for Windows XP, even with Service Pack 3 available for two months now, since May 6.
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13.6.2008 Windows XP SP3 – And So It Ends
It's the end of an era for Microsoft. Not the end of Windows XP, but the end of the XP era.
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21.6.2008 Vista SP1 or XP SP3?
Windows users are at a juncture in terms of operating system choices at this point in time, caught between Windows Vista SP1, Windows XP SP3 and Windows 7.
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24.6.2008 Windows XP SP3 - No Future
With Windows XP but four days away from the June 30 end-of-sales date, various scenarios are depicting the operating system as already dead.
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26.6.2008 Windows XP SP3 confirmed by Microsoft
Microsoft has revealed plans to release a third service pack for its Windows XP operating system.
"There will be a Service Pack 3 for Windows XP," Bernard Ourghanlian, technical and security director at Microsoft France, confirmed, revealing that Microsoft's OS is set for another major update.
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Vista SP1 Also Halted
This is a bit of an update to the story posted earlier, but just so everyone knows… Vista SP1 and Windows XP SP3 have been halted. I know there are a
bunch of websites out there telling you that they are available through Windows Update but that is incorrect. Both Vista SP1 and WinXP SP3 have been
pulled for now.
jcxp.net -
30.04.2008WinXP SP3 Yields Performance Gains Over Vista SP1 Again
exo.blog has at
the request of their members re-run
the
original OfficeBench test, this time with 2GB of RAM in the test system. Unfortunately the outcome is unchanged bar a 4% improvement on the
previous score. One can argue that Windows XP system requirements are quite a bit lower than its successor, and thats probably got a lot to do with
it. This, coupled with claims that Vista SP1
will
not improve on performance but will in fact be all about stability and reliability instead, doesn't offer much hope for those people on older
systems.
Make of it what you will, I personally don't have performance issues at all. I use Vista with 2GB of RAM and I have a Sandisk
2GB memory stick that is used for the "Ready Boost" feature, maybe they should re-run the test with that scenario.
Chris Pirillo
had this to say on all those negative articles
surrounding Windows Vista, enjoy!
Read full story.....
neowin.net -
28.11.2007Despite 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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26.03.2008Windows Server 2008 is called SP1. Adventures in doing things right?
Iain McDonald, General Manager, Windows Server Group: I had a bunch of people internally ask me why Windows Server shows it's version as Windows
Server 2008 SP1 (for brevity - WS08). <...> The history here goes back to problems we had from the split we had when we broke Windows XP from Windows
Server 2003 (WS03) way back in 2000.
At the time we had Windows 2000 (Win2k) out in the market & it was being very well
received. Especially on the client side which was doing well with corporate desktops. At the same time in the consumer side, we had Windows ME. I
never worked on WinME, I have never installed it, & I know nothing about it except what people have told me.
.
Mid 2000, we had a combined release on the rails but the pressure to do a client release for
consumer got high. So we forked WinXP from what was to become WS03. On one side, I think we did exactly the right thing. We met the dates required
from OEMs for WinXP & closed down the server release in exactly the right way. I believe the longevity of WS03 in market was because we did a load of
right things in the end game. I sill think what we knew when we released WinXP in august 2001 it was a great product. It's just that the world
changed 2 weeks later...
winbeta.org - 16.02.2008
Microsoft continues to warn of IE8 lock-in for XP SP3 users
Last year when Microsoft launched Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2, Jane Maliouta announced that consumers using Windows XP SP3 would be locked-in with the
IE8 if they had installed the IE8 beta prior to upgrading to SP3. Microsoft again yesterday issued that same warning to it's consumers. If you are
still one of the millions of users on Windows XP with SP3 installed, Microsoft has provided crucial steps to follow if you're ready to upgrade to
IE8 RC1. You can obtain IE8 RC1 from the links on this page. To see if you're one of the people who will have IE8 locked in, follow these steps.
Is your computer running Windows XP SP3?
Read full story.....
neowin.net - 27.01.2009
Windows XP SP3 moves closer to completion
Beta testers have received access to a release candidate of Windows XP Service Pack 3, but general consumers still have a long wait until they'll see
SP3 available for download...
betanews.com - 20.11.2007
New Features Discovered in Windows XP SP3: Is It Better Than Vista?
The principal reason given for the tremendous under-the-hood changes to Windows unveiled early this year in Vista was the need to overhaul the
security model. Now it seems many of those changes are also coming to XP in SP3...
betanews.com - 10.10.2007
XP SP3 RC Preview Clarification
I just noticed a post at Bink.nu where Steven mentions that the XP SP3 RC Preview is now available on Connect. Just to clarify, Microsoft have not
released any new build of XP SP3 to the general Windows Beta Program. While there is the possibility that he may be talking about a different private
beta program on Connect, the main Windows Beta Program on Connect which houses the Vista SP1/Server 2008/XP SP3 betas was last updated with the XP SP3
Beta (Build 3205) in early October.
winbeta.org - 24.10.2007
Microsoft 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
Windows 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.
winbeta.org - 08.10.2008
Is Microsoft Playing Games With XP SP3?
Call it a Hamlet moment for the PC industry, filled with political intrigue and machinations worthy of the great Shakespeare play: to wait for XP SP3
or move to Vista now that Microsoft has released Vista SP1? Or in other words: "To XP, or not to XP?" That is the question.
It's a
question that is burning up the blogosphere with some speculating that Microsoft has delayed XP SP3, a long awaited release that could boost the
performance of XP, to get more users to adopt Vista, a potential cash cow for Microsoft and PC makers given the operating system's robust hardware
refresh requirements.
With many in the blogosphere speculating that Microsoft could release the final version of XP SP3 this week,
Microsoft late Tuesday snuffed out all hope that users would see the service pack, originally slated for release in 2006, any time soon.
Read full story.....
neowin.net - 26.03.2008
Don't slipstream XP SP3 on Windows Vista!
This just in from Bink, seems he had a pretty interesting weekend attempting to Slipstream XP SP3.
"So I build a new Windows XP ISO with
SP3 integrated, this is a Volume License editions (VOL) which only accepts Volume License Keys (VLK). When I want to install it on a clean machine, I
noticed that setup prompts for a product key and it does not allow me to continue, which should be a new feature in XP sp3. OK so I fill in the VLK
but it does not accept it, I try another one from a customer of mine, does not work either. Angry
I found out that the problem is when you
do the XP Sp3 slipstream process on a WIndows Vista machine, the API gives a different response and screws up the PID process. This is a bug and
Microsoft knew about this in December, still the bug remained and made it all the way to RTM, nice work Microsoft.
So XP SP slipstream only
on XP or 2003 machines!!!"
neowin.net - 05.05.2008
Firms 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.
winbeta.org - 01.12.2007
Windows 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.
jcxp.net - 16.04.2008
XP SP3 Build 5503 Clarification
As some of you may have noticed, there was some confusion/concern regarding the validity of the unusual Build 5503 of XP SP3 that made the news a few
days ago. Fortunately, Mary Jo Foley received the following update from
Microsoft last night:
The XP SP3 5503 build was a minor interim build released to address one specific issue for a subset of private
beta testers. This build was not intended for public release and anyone who has that build and is not part of the private beta is working with bits
that Microsoft cant verify the integrity¦. The final version of XP SP3 is still on target to be released the first half of calendar year
2008.
Also worth noting is that the build contains an EULA for "Pre-Release" software so it most definitely will not be the final
SP3 build.
winbeta.org - 19.03.2008
Microsoft: XP SP3 RTM date a typo
WB: One more small note: the XP SP3
Overview that Microsoft posted yesterday is also not for the final version as can be seen on the second page of the doc: "This is a preliminary
document and may be changed substantially prior to final commercial release of the software described herein."
Mary Jo
Foley: Some sharp-eyed folks over at Neowin.net noticed Microsoft had posted to its Support Live Cycle Web site a release-to-manufacuturing date of March 31, 2008, for Windows XP
Service Pack (SP) 3.
winbeta.org - 03.04.2008
XP 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.
winbeta.org - 29.08.2007
Just over 30 days until Office 2003 SP3 available via Microsoft Update automatic distribution
The MU and Office Team: Just wanted to give you a heads up on our promised 30 days notice before making Office 2003 SP3 available via Microsoft Update
automatic distribution (for Vista and XP). We released SP3 for Office 2003 to customers about 4 months ago. Since then weve heard some great
feedback on what it is doing for customers be it in the enterprise, consumer, or other segments. In some cases people probably dont even know that
its working for them, which is just perfect. The security improvements are working just like they should in that case :).
That
said, we wanted to use the MU blog as one of many avenues to alert our customers to the fact that we will be distributing SP3 automatically via
Microsoft Update approximately 30 days from January 27th. We say approximately because the availability will happen gradually and not everyone will
see it at the same time. Think of the 27th as the marker and no sooner than 30 days from then is when SP3 will start to become available to
customers' systems.
winbeta.org - 26.01.2008
Microsoft to ease XP activation with SP3
Microsoft Corp. will change how users activate Windows XP when Service Pack 3 launches in the first half of 2008, a company white paper said.
New installations of Windows XP SP3 will give users the same 30-day grace period currently offered to Windows Vista customers before they're
required to enter a product activation key, the 25-character code that proves the copy is legitimate.
Read full story.....
neowin.net - 28.12.2007
Microsoft 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."
neowin.net - 15.04.2008
