Microsoft To Release Xp Sp3 Next Week

[Blah]

Microsoft To Release XP SP3 Next Week

Now that Windows Vista service pack 1 has been released, all eyes have shifted to Microsoft (NSDQ:MSFT)'s plans for Windows XP service pack 3, the final package of updates for the trusty OS.

And, according to at least one source, Microsoft will roll out XP SP3 next Monday.

As of Wednesday afternoon Pacific time, the BitTorrent search engine Mininova listed a 568.73 MB Windows XP Professional SP3 5503 file available for download. The file, which had 112 seeds and 417 leeches, had been downloaded 2083 times since it was posted Tuesday, according to the listing.

According to the file description notes, Microsoft will release the final version of XP SP3 on March 24, but the 5503 test build passes all Windows Genuine Advantage checks and is able to download Windows updates that previous XP SP3 builds weren't able to, which suggests that it could, in fact, be the final RTM build.

When Microsoft released Vista SP1 in February, the final RTM code was identical to the Vista SP1 Release Candidate (RC) 1 Refresh 2 test build that was released to a group of 15,000 testers two weeks earlier.

A Microsoft spokesperson, perhaps weary from the months-long barrage of Vista SP1 related inquiries, said the final version of XP SP3 is still on target to be released the first half of calendar year 2008, and 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 can't verify the integrity -- it's possible the bits may have been modified with malware or other bad code that Microsoft hasn't tested," the spokesperson said in an email.

XP SP3 was originally slated for release in 2006, but Microsoft has delayed it on numerous occasions since launching XP SP2 in August 2004. In February, Microsoft released XP SP3 Release Candidate 2 through its Download Center to users running PCs with XP SP2 installed.

http://keznews.com/4218_Microsoft_To_Release_XP_SP3_Next_Week

[r00t]

Good...maybe we will get more holes

[BlacKaT]

wtf is the point?

they are discontinuing winxp soon?

i heard.

[Teddy Rogers]

they are discontinuing winxp soon?

Not yet, still a bit of life in the old OS to come...

June 30, 2008 Microsoft will no longer make XP available to OEMs for preloading and/or via retail sales.

Users still will be able to get XP preloaded on new machines from white-box vendors/system builders through January 31, 2009.

Mainstream (free) support for XP from Microsoft ends in April 2009. Extended support (free for security fixes and paid for other help) ends in 2014.

Don't expect retail sales of WinXP with SP3 included. You will have to slipstream it in to your existing WinXP SP2...

Ted.

[BlacKaT]

nice to hear from u ted.

[BlacKaT]

do you think that my em OS cr*ck will still work if i update my service pack?

like anti wpa?

[Fungus]

Everything will still work, they are not changing the registration mechanism.

WinXP is slated to have support until 2011, so don't worry.

Windows2000 will end it's service life in 2010 for those of who like to use it.

[GEEK]

now tht vista has come as a big flop and many companies downgrading to xp they have no option but to continue support for xp

[mhm2010mhm]

If you are holding your breath while waiting for the final Windows XP Service Pack 3 to drop, you might as well expire and start breathing at a normal pace. Closing in on two months since Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008 were released to manufacturing, Microsoft is yet to go gold with the bits for the third and final service pack of Windows XP, despite indications that the finish line is

on the immediate horizon. But while there is nothing new on the XP SP3 download front, items associated with the service pack, namely documentation, have been updated and re-released.

The new published date for the Windows XP Service Pack 3 Overview is March 21, 2008, at the end of the past week. Microsoft has failed to pinpoint the changes to the documentation, if any. "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

[Teddy Rogers]

DailyTech reported earlier this week that Microsoft was in a bit of a bind concerning the end-of-sale date for Windows XP. The company originally planned to suspend the sale of Windows XP on January 31, 2008, but later extended the date to June 30, 2008.

The funeral for Windows XP shouldn't have caused too much of a rift in the space-time continuum considering that Windows Vista is currently available to fill its shoes, but things haven't gone over so swiftly. The planned funeral for Windows XP has been confounded by two issues, 1) the rise of low-cost notebooks which are taking advantage of Linux-based operating systems and 2) the fact that Windows Vista is too resource hungry to run with respectable performance on such machines.

We first heard word that Microsoft would reconsider its decision to kill off Windows XP shortly after our original article went live on Monday and the Redmond-based company confirmed that decision earlier today.

Microsoft will now make Windows XP Home available for what it calls ultra-low-cost PCs (ULPCs) until June 30, 2010 or one year after the release of the next version of Windows; whichever is later. Microsoft goes on to state that it "Heard from partners and customers that they want Windows broadly available for this new class of devices, because they want the familiarity, compatibility and support only available on the Windows platform."

Microsoft also acknowledged that Windows XP makes more sense than Windows Vista for these machines adding, "While Windows Vista provides many benefits, including an easier and more secure user experience, Windows XP Home provides an effective solution on these devices from a performance and cost perspective."

Consumers should be glad to hear that the flood of new, low-cost notebooks from Intel, ASUS, ECS, and Everex will continue to be available with Windows XP for the next two years. Microsoft can also rest assured that it won't be missing out on a growing, lucrative segment of the PC market.

For those that looking to see other versions of Windows extended beyond the June 30, 2008 date, you're out of luck. Only XP Home will get a reprieve from Microsoft.

Ted.

[cond0lence]

The build 5508 RC2 is already stabil enough for my purpose and it keeps me away of loading past sp2 updates (because it don't need them).

There is also no info about anymore (when it is installed) it would be still a beta state.

So who need a final, that couldn't make it more stable as it is?

[What]

Has anyone updated to SP3 yet? I guess they edited the ntdll.dll a little so using some of ollyadvanced fixes could lead to crashing, for instance using ZwQueryInformationProcess will screws up ZwQueryInformationThread, Basically just fixed apis in ntdll that have their returns hooked. It doesnt bother me because I dont use Ollyadvanced for api fixes anymore, but just thought I would share.

[human]

i updated but there isnt any increase in speed, like it was suppose to be 5-10%.i did a baseline for sp2 in passmark peformance test then did bench on sp3.

sp2 vs sp3:

cpu sse 2658 vs 2667 mln matrices

2d gfx lines 210 vs 195 thousends lines so slower

2d gui 708.9 vs 810.5 operations so gui render is faster by 12%

mem alloc small block 2608 vs 2621 mb/s

mem large ram 709 vs 723 operations per second

rest no change or less than 1%

maybe this compare was sp2 clean vs sp3. so if you have newest patches to xp it doesnt change so much.

and after install its still old good,best xp

Edited May 1, 2008 by human

[What]

i updated but there isnt any increase in speed, like it was suppose to be 5-10%.i did a baseline for sp2 in passmark peformance test then did bench on sp3.

sp2 vs sp3:

cpu sse 2658 vs 2667 mln matrices

2d gfx lines 210 vs 195 thousends lines so slower

2d gui 708.9 vs 810.5 operations so gui render is faster by 12%

mem alloc small block 2608 vs 2621 mb/s

mem large ram 709 vs 723 operations per second

rest no change or less than 1%

maybe this compare was sp2 clean vs sp3. so if you have newest patches to xp it doesnt change so much.

and after install its still old good,best xp

Well I guess the best thing that you can say about the update is at least they didn't Vista it. Definition: Vista - POS not worth upgrading to. This is worth the upgrade if you have broadband connection.

[ChupaChu]

Well i tried this the other day

http://download.windowsupdate.com/msdownload/update/software/svpk/2008/04/windowsxp-kb936929-sp3-x86-enu_c81472f7eeea2eca421e116cd4c03e2300ebfde4.exe

(317MB)

But i was not able to install it, due off strange error i get.. although i have legaly bought windows and a validated license.

Setup of SP3 just dies (dissappears from desktop and "extractor" process hangs)..

After reading log file these entries happen to be guillty of it:

: IsSPBetaKey:pLA->lpVtbl->GetProductID Failed: 0x80004005 
: Trying CheckVLKForBlock again 
: Error: CheckVLKForBlock failed

I got no idea why it does not get valid ProductID..

p.s.

i have tried "regsvr32 licdll.dll" fix known to hep in sucha case with sp2, but no luck this time

[cond0lence]

Build 5512 (final) runs fine. Not really faster as the previous betas, but maybe more stable.

[Teddy Rogers]

I want to know what happened to Vista SP1 being available in April via Windows Update. It is now May...

Ted.

[ChupaChu]

It seems a typical M*cro$oft compatibility issue coused another delay

In the last few days, we have uncovered a compatibility issue between Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System (RMS) and both Windows XP SP3 and Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1). In order to make sure customers have the best possible experience, we have decided to delay releasing Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) to the web.

To help protect customers, we plan to put filtering in place shortly to prevent Windows Update from offering both service packs to systems running Microsoft Dynamics RMS. Once filtering is in place, we expect to release Windows XP SP3 to the web.

We are also testing a fix, and will make it available once that process is complete. Once they have installed the fix, Microsoft Dynamics RMS customers should be able to run both service packs.

Until then, we advise Microsoft Dynamics RMS customers to not install either service pack. Microsoft Dynamics RMS customers running Windows XP SP3 or Windows Vista SP1 should contact Microsoft Customer Support Services for additional information.

[0xAC]

Vista has many compatibility issues, why didn't microsoft focus on those instead of releasing a new service pack??

practically I'm ****ed with vista since I'm using one.. wished I bought XP instead..

[atom0s]

Vista SP1 is nothing more then updates that you can already get from the automatic updater. The review of the service pack is far from pleasing from what I could say. I don't use or have Vista and never will own it as I hate it from my own experiences with it. The review can be found at:

/>http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/sp1.mspx

Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) is the complete set of Windows Vista updates we've issued over the past year plus some enhancements to improve your PC's performance. SP1 doesn't add features or require you to learn anything new

[Blah]

my xp just notified me that the updates available...

should i bother updating??

cheers

B

[What]

should i bother updating??

If you want to live. Actually lets put it this way, its not really worth updating, but it is also not worth not updating.

Edited May 8, 2008 by What

[Sonny27]

I will wait another one or two months till I update so that I can at least be quite sure, that if there are still any serious bugs, hotfixes will be out

greetz

[human]

me too, due i dont want again waste whole day to delete crap with xplite, update all drivers, config everything like show extensions,hidden files, create associations, install apps i always use and then make backup of it so i will never reinstall xp again. every 3 years reinstalling xp when new sp is out is enough:P

and backup is restored in 10 minutes. but most lamers not only reinstall but also format.

Edited May 8, 2008 by human

[cond0lence]

A new bug was found, releated to AMD user:

http://msinfluentials.com/blogs/jesper/arc...ing-xp-sp3.aspx

But its already possible to fix it.