Windows XP SP3 Preview Pack?

[someuser190826]

I am not sure the credibility of the site, but this http://thehotfix.net/sp3.html page has some details on a preview pack for SP3 - now it seems to be available for download as well.

Is there a scheduled release for another service pack?

[SaN-DeeP]

nope there is no information about official release as such, they have bundled all the hotfixes till date for xp3 and termed the same as Windows XP Service Pack 3

The editor notes says this:
This is simply a zip file with all of the hotfixes in exe format. There is no general installer.

[someuser190826]

nope there is no information about official release as such, they have bundled all the hotfixes till date for xp3 and termed the same as Windows XP Service Pack 3

The editor notes says this:
This is simply a zip file with all of the hotfixes in exe format. There is no general installer.

Alright, I was just wondering if there were any SP to be introduced anytime soon. Thanks.

[Darkblade]

Thanks for the reminder. I'll be upgrading to SP3 asap once I've formatted my PC.

[Wayne Luke]

Alright, I was just wondering if there were any SP to be introduced anytime soon. Thanks.

It should be out before Vista is released. Not much other news than that though. Seems to be mainly security fixes so if you are caught up on Windows Update, not much that will be needed to be done for you.

[SaN-DeeP]

If you need a fast server to download/test this Windows XP Service Pack 3 release, we have hosted the same on US Servers with Servint here:

Windows XP Service Pack 3 Download

100 mbit connection speeds, if it aint very busy:

[Marco]

Ugh... any fixes for something as vital as my OS will have to come from MS directly, not from some shady website.

[AWS]

This look like it is all the fixes posted on Windows Update.
If there was a release of sp3 it would be news to beta testers. There is no talk of an sp3 beta, which there would be first, amongst any of the Vista or R2 testers. I would be leary of downloading and installing any Windows patches from any site but Microsofts. What makes this seem so shady is there is no sp3 yet.

[Wayne Luke]

What makes this seem so shady is there is no sp3 yet.

There are rumors it will be released before Vista... Who really knows. I wouldn't download anything labeled as a "Service Pack" from any site except Windows Update. That is just asking for trouble. As a rollup of security fixes it really doesn't need a lot of beta testing and that could easily be done next year even. They didn't tell a lot of people about the WinFS beta they just released for XP either.

[krohnathlonman]

They never should have called it SP3. I saw this package go through the usual warez channels as a way for pirated XP users to get the updates since being blocked from windows update. This guy appears to have snagged that and is trying to take credit for it.

This is in no way anything like a service pack. Simply run windowsupdate and you'll get everything you need.

Never trust a shady PR0 site. If there was anything real about SP3 I'd have it all over iamnotageek.com which I own. it would also be all over every other site out there

[someuser190826]

I guess the above posts serve as education for members here. My intention on the other hand was to just refer to this bundle of patches and just see if there were any planned official bundle releases similar to that by Microsoft.

[AWS]

SP3 is supposed to be released sometime near the release of Vista or shortly after. My bet is after. That way they could bundle in WinFS.

[Wayne Luke]

My bet is after. That way they could bundle in WinFS.

Even though WinFS is currrently on track for RTM in 2007?

[AWS]

That is what I'm thinking. Microsoft has shown that when they have an OS in beta no SP for older systems are released. What is interesting this time is they have 3 major OS betas going on. Windows 2003 Server R2, Vista and Longhorn Server. This in itself leads me to beleive 2007 for SP3. If R2 and Vista meets release dates look for SP3 and WinFS first quarter 2007 with Longhorn Server late 2007. First quarter 2007 is excpected release date for WinFS so it would make sense for them to bundle it in a service pack.

[AWS]

Also 2007 could be about right for Vista SP1. XP SP1 came out about 11 months after release.