Microsoft publicly releases Windows XP SP3 release candidate

Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Microsoft

Microsoft publicly releases Windows XP SP3 release candidate

by Brad Linder Dec 19th 2007

It's been pretty easy to download the release candidate of Windows XP Service Pack 3 for the last few days -- if you knew where to look. But if you're the sort of person that prefers to download operating system updates directly from the software maker's website (we call these people scaredy cats... or alternately, smart computer users), you'll probably want to download SP3 directly from Microsoft's servers.

Well, now you can do that. Microsoft has launched a public download page for Windows XP SP3 RC.

The installer is a 336MB file which includes all of the patches, security updates and bug fixes since the release of SP2. That means if you've been keeping your PC up to date, you probably won't actually need everything that's in this package, but since you can't officially install SP3 through Windows update yet, you'll have to download the whole thing anyway.

Keep in mind, this is a release candidate, not the final version of SP3. Microsoft may still issue updates before releasing the final version, so while we're pretty sure this package won't break your computer, we ain't making any promises.

[via Digital Inspiration]

Tags: sp3, windows-xp, windows-xp-sp3

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Tom said 9:21PM on 12-19-2007

I installed this Service Pack on a new build this morning. It went quickly. There is something strange, though - it doesn't include IE7 and after installing it IE7 does not show up as an update. I had to download it separately. I can't believe that's right.

Bob said 2:13PM on 1-15-2008

Another reason for wanting SP3 is if you order a new machine with XP SP2, it promises to be much easier than finding the 100 or so patches and installing them offline on your new machine.

Bob said 2:13PM on 1-15-2008

Another reason for wanting SP3 is if you order a new machine with XP SP2, it promises to be much easier than finding the 100 or so patches and installing them offline on your new machine.

CbkNxD said 1:09PM on 1-31-2008

No se, pero falta poco para que salga la versión "Service Pack 3" del Windows XP, lo que quisiera saber (ojalá en español), es la fecha de lanzamiento, porque yo, por lo que escuché saldría el 15 de enero, pero no se ha sabido nada más.

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