Windows XP Service Pack 3 Leaked Details!
- Windows XP Service Pack 3 lives!
Not only is Windows XP Service Pack 3 alive and kicking, but
Microsoft also managed to leak details about what the refresh will contain. The Redmond
Company's policy when it comes down to future releases of the Windows platform is to gag all details. Windows
XP SP3 is old news for Microsoft. And with the general availability of
Windows Vista it was pushed to the background. But in all fairness, Microsoft never confirmed the cancellation of the third service pack for
Windows XP. The company only scrapped it out of sight and under the rug with repeated delays.
The availability date for the first beta of Windows Vista SP1 was revealed by a U.S. Justice Department legal filing. Microsoft plans to deliver Vista SP1 beta by the end of 2007, but the date is of course nothing more than an estimation. By comparison, SP3 for Windows
XP is currently planned for the first half of 2008. But Microsoft initially planned to deliver the third
service pack for Windows XP in 2006, only to postpone the release to 2007 and then again to 2008.
Windows XP SP3, despite its collection of delays, will make it to the market, and Microsoft plans in integrate changes to Internet Explorer and to
Windows Media Player into the refresh. "Microsoft has agreed to make changes to Windows XP, two Middleware Products, and
Windows Live Messenger. The Windows Live Messenger changes have been delivered in the Windows Live Messenger 8.5 beta and will be included in the public release. Changes for Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player will be made available to users in August 2007 and Microsoft is discussing with the TC the delivery mechanism for those changes. The Windows XP changes will be incorporated into Service Pack 3 for Windows XP," revealed the U.S. Justice department in its filing.
We'll have to see when these SPs do come out and look at their size. SP2 for XP in the redistributed form is some 266mb there. And seeing MS sued by someone is nothing new like IE was the item seen in the first suit filed for not allowing other companies to have their own browsers in use. In that case MS was blamed for having the monopoly.