Windows XP SP3 (Service Pack 3) arriving next month

25 Mar 2008

Good news for Vista bashers and Windows XP lovers. The service pack 3 for Windows XP is arriving next month.

According to the updated schedule the RTM will be released in Second Half of April 2008 for English, Simplified Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Korean and Spanish. FOr other languages, it will be released 21 days after the initial release.

Here are the details from Tech ARP



1. Windows XP Service Pack 3 will contain hotfixes and updates released since Windows XP SP2. It will also include an expanded set of product keys for Windows XP Professional that were originally introduced in Windows XP SP2c.

2. Microsoft clarified that there will not be any integrated SP3 release for Windows XP Media Center Edition or Windows XP Tablet Edition. That means you won't be able to buy or obtain a complete Windows XP Media Center Edition / Tablet Edition SP3 CD. In addition, users of Windows XP Media Center Edition or Windows XP Tablet Edition will only be able to update to Service Pack 3 through Windows Update.

3. All languages will now be released in two waves. Earlier, Microsoft said that languages support for Windows XP Service Pack 3 will be released in three waves. What was previously identified as wave 2 and 3 have now been combined into a single wave 2.

4. Microsoft has also delayed RTM for Windows XP Service Pack 3 to provide sufficient time to incorporate feedback from the beta testers. (In other words, they can't make their original deadline!)

Related News

Microsoft Unhappy with Benchmarking Results

Reported in TechArp