Windows XP SP3 Yet Again

source:techtree

For the third time round, Windows XP users will get a chance to try out XP Service Pack 3 (SP3). Microsoft yesterday released one more Windows XP SP3 saying it is again testing the update.

Christened “Windows XP SP3 RC2 Refresh”, the new build is the second to be offered to XP users over a period of five weeks. The other name for “RC2 Refresh” being build 5508; it will be made available only as a Windows Update download, and only in English, German, and Japanese, Microsoft said in a statement. The company justified that “RC2 Refresh” is being made available so as to receive further user feedback prior to that one big release — that of Windows XP SP3.

Microsoft may have made Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) broadly available last week but the company has yet to give its go ahead to XP SP3. While the company keeps saying the final release is slated for some time in the first half of this year, speculation is indeed rife that XP SP3 may release to manufacturing sometime in April.

Meanwhile, “Windows XP SP3 RC2 Refresh” is similar to ‘Windows XP SP3 RC2′ released in February in that users need to download, install, and run a small registry hack available from Microsoft’s ‘Download Center’ to help their computers get the latest XP SP3 update. They also need to first uninstall earlier versions of SP3.

Apart from the release date for Windows XP SP3 (which isn’t clear yet), Windows XP is slated to be dropped from the availability list for OEMs and retailers on June 30, and thereafter from distribution on Jan 31, 2009. However, come June, and computer makers will have to stop selling machines with XP — unless of course, that deadline too is extended.