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 How to Downgrade from Windows Vista Business or Ultimate OEM Edition and Install Windows XP Professional
A lot of users still don’t getting used to Windows Vista. A lot of reviews have been labeling Windows Vista as bloated, hard to use, tons of compatibility issues, inconvenient, not user friendly, not stable and etc.
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22.8.2008 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 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 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 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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Windows XP SP3 Delayed until 2008
As I predicted, another delay and watch when in 2007 they will cancel the SP completely.
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19.10.2006 Administrators concerned that XP SP3 will be axed
The ship date, delayed to 2008, puts Service Pack 3 rollout within months of cut-off date for mainstream support.
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25.10.2006Windows XP SP3 Now Available on Windows Update and Microsoft Download Center
Microsoft Update Team: Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) is now available on Windows Update (and the Microsoft Download Center)!
If you'd like to install it via WU today, you'll need to visit the Windows Update website. To do this, go to
Windows Update and perform an express or custom install, make sure you see the service
pack selected, and proceed with the install. After it downloads, you'll see a series of screens and you'll be asked to make a few clicks before the
install will begin.
If you're not in a rush, we recommend you use Automatic Updates to install Windows XP SP3. It provides the
best experience because the download will happen in the background. We're planning to begin automatically distributing Windows XP SP3 over AU
sometime in the next few months.
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07.05.2008Don'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!!!"
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05.05.2008Windows 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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16.04.2008Despite 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 Warns Of IE7 Lock-In With XP SP3
Microsoft’s Internet Explorer development team has warned users updating to Windows XP Service Pack 3 that they won't be able to downgrade from IE7
to the older IE6 without uninstalling the service pack.
"If you choose to install XP SP3, Internet Explorer 7 will remain on your system
after the install is complete," said Jane Maliouta, an IE program manager, in the blog entry. "Your preferences will be retained. However, you will
no longer be able to uninstall IE7. If you go to Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, the Remove option will be grayed out."
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10.05.2008Microsoft 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.....
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27.01.2009Windows 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...
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20.11.2007Windows XP Service Pack 3 Install Info
Via
Bink.nu:
I
did a clean install of Windows
XP Professional (English,
32bit, Volume License) with
Service Pack 2 integrated in a
Virtual Machine. After that I
installed Windows XP Service
Pack 3 Beta build 3180.
The SP3
executable pack is named
windowsxp-kb936929-sp3-x86-enu
.exe. So there we have the
reserved KB article number.
The size of the pack is 332
MB.
When
installing is replaces and
backs up 2,848 files (456 MB )
to
C:WINDOWS$NtServicePackUni
nstall$
As before it also archives
the SP3 itself in
C:WINDOWSServicePackFilesni386
2,921 Files (552 MB
)
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09.08.2007Is 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.....
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26.03.2008Windows XP SP3 RC2 Standalone Packages Available (English, German, Japanese)
Note that this is the same exact build (3311) Microsoft previously released as a Windows Update only download
last week.
Microsoft is allowing Windows XP
Service Pack 2 machines to be offered Windows XP Service Pack 3 Release Candidate 2 via Windows Update. You may also download standalone update
packages for Windows XP SP3 RC2, in English, German, and/or Japanese. Windows XP Service Pack 3 will be offered on Windows Update when Service Pack 3
releases in the first half of 2008.
Windows Service Pack 2 is required in order to install this preview. Please uninstall any
previous beta release of Service Pack 3 before installing SP3 RC2.
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28.02.2008Daylight 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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22.04.2008XP 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.
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24.10.2007Firms 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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01.12.2007New 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...
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10.10.2007Full retail and volume license installs of XP SP3 available to MSDN/TechNet Plus subscribers
Chris Keroack: Microsoft is pleased to make available integrated retail and volume license installs of Windows XP SP3, to MSDN and TechNet Plus
subscribers. Integrated retail and volume license installs are available in the following languages: Chinese Simplified, English, French, German,
Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish. Additional languages will be made available soon.
Please see the
MSDN Subscriber Downloads or
TechNet Plus Subscriber Downloads to obtain these
releases. The
main TechNet
resource page for Windows XP SP3 is updated with this information.
We have recently identified a compatibility issue between
Windows XP SP3 and Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System (RMS). Microsoft Dynamics RMS customers should not install Windows XP SP3 until a fix
has been fully tested and made available. In addition, Windows XP SP3 will be available on Windows Update and the Microsoft Download Center soon.
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03.05.2008Windows XP SP3 Not Until Late
2007
According to an update on
Microsoft's support lifecycle
Web site, the next service
pack for Windows XP isn't due
out until the second half of
2007 -- one full year after
Windows Vista launches. XP SP3
will likely serve as a
cumulative update for what
will soon become Microsoft's
legacy operating system...
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18.01.2006XP 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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29.08.2007Microsoft 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.....
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28.12.2007Gaming Performance: Windows Vista SP1 vs. XP SP3
Even as Microsoft tries to shove Windows Vista down the collective and unwilling throat of computer users worldwide, the company is still perfecting
the well-aged and well-loved Windows XP. The latter of the two operating systems just received its third (and evidently last) service pack.
<...> Of course, with the release of a new service pack comes a huge, pressing question: How does it compare to Windows Vista and its own
recent update, Service Pack 1, in the game performance department? Vista, of course, has been plagued by criticism that games run on it don't perform
as well as they do in Windows XP, even though most of the problems were due to early graphics drivers and have gradually been worked out.
Come with us as we install XP SP3 and take it for a test drive, and more importantly compare it to Vista SP1 with a batch of performance
tests. Though DirectX 10 is Vista-only, many a gamer has sworn not to upgrade; will XP SP3 cement their decision, or has Vista and its drivers matured
enough to change a few minds?
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12.05.2008Did Microsoft Lose XP SP3 on the Way to Vista SP1 RTM?
Windows XP Service Pack 3,
Windows Vista Service Pack
1 and
Windows Server 2008... In the
end its all Windows to Microsoft. Right? Well... in all fairness, you do have to keep in mind that all Windows platforms are equal, but some Windows
operating systems are more equal than others... And in this context, Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 are privileged over Windows XP. Microsoft
is essentially choosing to ignore the vast majority of Windows users.
According to data from Net Applications, the install base
of XP is over 75% of all the operating systems, with Vista at just over 10%. But statistics are by no means impressive to Microsoft. Throughout the
development process of Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008, the Redmond company has been pushing Windows XP SP3 to the background. Even though XP SP3
was developed alongside Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008.
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05.02.2008
