Windows XP Service Pack 3 Released
Microsoft delivers the third pack of major upgrades for XP users
Microsoft continues to support Windows XP by releasing their third service pack installment by providing minor updates to the popular operating system. This is the first service pack released since service pack 2 was made public nearly four years ago.
Windows XP users who were expecting to see a big difference in their appearance and performance may not be as satisfied with the end results. This update does not contain any major updates to Windows XP, such as Service Pack 2's security center update. Some of Microsoft's updated programs, like Internet Explorer 7 and Windows Media Player, were not included in the update.
Some of the new features include the "Black Hole" Router Detection. "Black Holes" were recently found to be a bizarre occurrence across the Internet, causing computers to become unable to access web sites due to information being lost. This feature detects those routers that cause these incidents and helps prevent computers from being caught in black holes.
Network Access Protection is an update for computers on each network to become updated to proper computer compliance and will prevent non-compliant computers from full access. In a sense, it keeps the "healthy" computers from being mixed in with computers not up to date. This feature was originally available only to Windows Vista and Server 2008 users.
Additionally, as part of an update in Vista, Service Pack 3 allows users to install Windows XP without the requirement of a product key during installation. This is prompted for later during the Genuine Advantage portion.
Service Pack 3 emphasizes the key updates that Microsoft has been releasing over the past two years. Most of those updates include networking security issues, including updates to Remote Desktop, data transfer, and wireless protected access. Microsoft has also included the updates for XP users who have not updated between Service Pack 2 and now. Users who may have forgotten to update or declined to update will now receive all of those updates included with Service Pack 3.
Microsoft points out in their overview that Service Pack 3 is not meant to change the experience of XP, but to keep users on top of updates in a more convenient way. There are no large changes, like the addition of Security Center in Service Pack 2, but Microsoft claims that this will keep their users more secure than before.
Service Pack 3 is currently available through Microsoft Download Center as an ISO file, and will be made available on Automatic Updates in early summer.
