According to tech site Neowin, but yet to be officialy confirmed by Microsoft, the third Service Pack of Windows XP will show up around April, 29th, 2008 on the major consumer download areas of Microsoft (Microsoft Update, Windows Update, and Download Center).
The SP3 will be shipped earlier, around April, 21st, for the Original Equipment Manufacturers, Volume License, Connect, and MSDN and TechNet subscribers; around June, 10th the patch will automatically show up on Automatic Updates.Based on the last test build the SP3 will weight more than 300MB. As usual for any Service Pack, the SP3 will be cumulative, meaning it is possible to install just SP3 on a any clean install of XP.
Between the new features there will be the Network Access Protection (NAP), while Internet Explorer 7 is still kept as separated download.
Links
Neowin – Windows XP SP3 Release Dates: http://www.neowin.net/news/main/08/04/15/windows-xp-sp3-release-dates
Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 3 Overview: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=68c48dad-bc34-40be-8d85-6bb4f56f5110&displaylang=en
The Windows XP logo is copyrighted by Microsoft Corporation.
We have been getting bad feedback from users that have installed the Windows XP SP3. One of the biggest complaints is Microsoft did not include Direct X 10. The service pack employs many features of Vista and seems to turn your current version of XP into a steppingstone for purchasing a full copy of Vista. Please be sure your current computer programs will be able to handle the transition to SP3 or you may not be able to use them anymore.
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