At last, a new service pack for Windows XP

This content is 16 years old. I don't routinely update old blog posts as they are only intended to represent a view at a particular point in time. Please be warned that the information here may be out of date.

It’s been a long time coming – almost 4 years – but Microsoft has just announced that Windows XP service pack 3 has been released to manufacturing.

In the announcement, Release Manager, Chris Keroack, said:

“Today we are happy to announce that Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) has released to manufacturing (RTM). Windows XP SP3 bits are now working their way through our manufacturing channels to be available to OEM and Enterprise customers.

We are also in the final stages of preparing for release to the web […] on April 29th, via Windows Update and the Microsoft Download Center. Online documentation for Windows XP SP3, such as Microsoft Knowledge Base articles and the Microsoft TechNet Windows XP TechCenter, will be updated then. For customers who use Windows XP at home, Windows XP SP3 Automatic Update distribution for users at home will begin in early summer.”

Microsoft released a white paper a few months back, detailing the improvements that Windows XP service pack 3 will bring – XP SP3 is basically a rollup of updates and some of the networking technologies from Windows Vista – for example NAP client support.

One thought on “At last, a new service pack for Windows XP”

I didn’t have the link handy when I wrote this post earlier but for corporates who are not yet ready to deploy SP3, the Windows Service Pack Blocker Toolkit can be used.

Mark Wilson says:

Monday 21 April 2008 at 23:42

I didn’t have the link handy when I wrote this post earlier but for corporates who are not yet ready to deploy SP3, the Windows Service Pack Blocker Toolkit can be used.