Windows XP Closes In on SP3
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Microsoft's most successful operating system, ever, has inched closer to Service Pack 3. Release Candidate 1 is now available from MSDN and—so I hear—from TechNet. I can only personally confirm MSDN availability. |
It's something of a tongue twister: Windows XP Service Pack 3 Release Candidate 1. Surely the name breaks some grammatical rule about number agreement.
The update is mixed benefit for Microsoft. What the company should want is more Windows Vista migrations. Windows XP SP3 is expected to release about the same time as Windows Vista Service Pack 1. But the installed base is overwhelmingly Windows XP. It's not like an XP update is going to encourage IT organizations to migrate to Vista. Why switch when XP runs just fine and presumably better with SP3?
One wonders what the fly on the wall heard during the Microsoft service pack debate. Surely there was one. It's easy to imagine some Microsoft product managers arguing for a long SP3 delay in favor of pushing Vista adoption, while others insisting on doing the right thing by XP customers. For a while there, given Microsoft's surprising reticence about either service pack, XP users were looking to be people left behind by the Vista bus. Vista likely will still get the preferential treatment, but XP users won't wait for a bus that may never come.
XP SP3 RC1's milestone foreshadows Vista SP1 development. Microsoft isn't about to open the SP3 testing floodgates while sending SP1 to trickle, trickle down a faucet. XP SP3's broader beta demands similar treatment for Vista SP1. I've heard from some Microsoft elves that, barring any North Pole catastrophes, Vista SP1 RC1 will be more broadly available long before Christmas. Ho, ho, ho. Have I mixed enough metaphors yet?
"A public RC will be available at a later date," a Microsoft spokesperson said in an e-mail statement. "Windows XP SP3 is a rollup that includes all previously released updates for Windows XP, including security updates, out-of-band releases, and hotfixes. We are targeting 1H 2008 for the release of XP SP3 RTM, though our timing will always be based on customer feedback as a first priority."
Microsoft's development of Vista SP1, XP SP3 and Windows Server 2008 is taking place nearly in lockstep. It's raining release candidates! Windows Server is the core code base, and, at least since 2004, desktop and server OS development are closely timed, with Windows Server's timetable setting the agenda for Windows client.
So, Windows Server 2008's next major testing milestones should precede additional Vista SP1 RCs, which would come before new XP SP3 RCs. The three products should also release to manufacturing in fairly close proximity of time. Dec. 10 or 11 would be good dates for that broader Vista SP1 test build. I'm traveling those days, which is reason enough for the big SP1 RC1 to come when I'm on a plane somewhere. Don't you just hate when that happens?
[Editors Note: Post updated with Microsoft comment.]
Comments (12)
From my standpoint it seems that MS has finally seen the light with regards to holding onto the marketshare Windows has.
Sure having people upgrade to Vista is a priority for them but the real top priority is keeping them from switching to Macs- the hardest thing to do is win somebody BACK.
Treat Firefox, Leopard, Google Docs etc as the appealing girl who tempts you when you're dating somebody else, you leave your current girlfriend and wind up getting together with the appealling girl. It takes a lot to go back, no matter what you miss out on.
By keeping XP fresh and fast MS stands to lose less customers and hold onto them whilst they get any remaining problems with Vista out. Hopefully the lessons they have learnt will generate results before they have lost all hope. MinWin is very appealling to a lot of people who I have talked about this with, and thats a few years away. I believe Microsoft's biggest strength has turned into a weakness- that is their talented staff wanted to make an OS that takes advantage of new technology- SSD etc whereas the public wants it to work on their current box and have new features in a very visable way immediately like Apple has done with Time Machine- I would take the ability to make better products a couple of years from now over some overly flashy application being built in- but that's not what Joe Public seems to want.
Posted by northerngeek | December 4, 2007 8:28 AM
Could someone help me with the URL what do I put there ? I Know this is a dumb question . But I dont no what to put there.
Posted by Nadia | December 4, 2007 11:56 AM
I guess we're seeing the effects of How Microsoft Lost the API War. A very interesting blog (and long, but detailed entry) from Joel Spolsky: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/APIWar.html
Posted by Javier | December 4, 2007 12:00 PM
Will we ever really known all the "hidden features" of prioriatory software that is Service Pack 3 for XP? What bits of added WGA, tilt bits, DRM, and spyware has M$ added to the real latest and greatest it can actually be capable of? Cause Vista for sure is not the best that MS is capable of. Vista even pales in comparision to XP. Sad when MS can't do better than a 5 or 6 year Operating System.
Watch out for SP3, the "hidden features," if there are any. Like more auto-updates surprises, perhaps a kill switch? This company has become about "CONTROL," and they want to control everything you do on your computer. Beware, set yourself, and your company free, download and try Linux from, distrowatch.com
Posted by chips | December 4, 2007 12:45 PM
North, South Korea Unite Over Linux
The bitter political foes will team with China on the project, tentatively named "Hana Linux"
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/dec2007/gb2007123_556880.htm
Quote from the link: "South Korea has also rolled out Linux in Seoul schools, announced plans for a "Linux showcase city" last year, and promised (in 2003) to move 30 percent of government servers to Linux by this year."
Posted by chips | December 4, 2007 1:05 PM
Microsoft's sex-obsessed RoboSanta spouts filth at children
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/03/santa_filth_outrage/
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Poor M$, they just don't seem to get anything right these days.
Posted by chips | December 4, 2007 1:09 PM
8 watt pc: Ideal for robotics?
http://roborobert.com/2007/12/linux-robots.html
Posted by Repugnant | December 4, 2007 1:16 PM
Chips
Fair dinkum you really scour the internet for "ANY" news on Linux don't you.
Well your North Korean story is a joke, North Korean can't even pay for electricity at night let alone run a computer.
They are poor and under fed, why the hell would they even worry at all about computers.
South Korea sure ... but not North !
As for your "hidden features" on sp3 ... do you look under your bed for communists too ??
Posted by Neil | December 4, 2007 5:34 PM
How can you NOT see how this will push people towards vista?!
Imagine business use. The IT department will have to go out and deploy SP3. For all it's users. This is the time to decide wether to put more effort in XP or to get Vista.
First they release Vista SP1, and as you know lots of companies have said to delay Vista deployment till SP1. Then after that they release XP SP3, making you put an extra effort in XP. This is perfect timing.
Remove a Vista hurdle and add a XP hurdle. Pure brilliance if you ask me. For a sellers point of view that is.
Posted by Henk | December 6, 2007 6:07 AM
Henk you are wrong.
"The IT department will have to go out and deploy SP3. For all it's users."
No - they won't have to, installing a service pack isn't compulsary.
And secondly why would people choose to upgade to Vista instead of installing a service pack. This is quite simply flawed logic.
In my opinion at the moment XP is a far superior OS to Vista. On a notebook I recently installed Vista on it takes around 10 minutes to finish booting.
I installed SP1 several days ago and it made absolutely no difference.
Maybe by the time Mirosloth releases SP3 Vista may be worth using.
I don't undestand how installing a service pack eqautes to removing a hurdle for Vista, but when you install a service pack on XP it is adding a hurdle. Seems quite strange to me!
Posted by Roger | December 12, 2007 4:41 PM
I agree with Roger.
SPEED!
I don't see any good point to go out for Vista yet. I am quite happy with XP SP 2 now. If there is one reason I may install SP 3 is that there are some speed gains according some SP 3 reviews. Other than that I won't go for Vista yet.
INTERFACE!
For our research center, over 70 research students are using XP SP 2, some students are NOT happy about IE 7 due to interface change.
RETURN ON INVESTMENT!
I doubt about Vista and Office 2007 for those students. It will create huge workloads for IT people due to hardware upgrades and training those people. The finance department won't be happy with spending so much extra $ for incoming training and support issues. Q is ROI vs Productivity!
Posted by ora410 | January 13, 2008 4:08 AM
I wish Micro$oft would keep Win XP around longer than Bill Gates who's going to spend all the loot he ripped off at the end of June. May he roast in the eternal lake of fire!
Posted by Bocephus P Snerdley III | March 19, 2008 1:35 PM