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December 3, 2007 3:25 PM PST

Microsoft expands XP SP3 testing

by Ina Fried

Microsoft said Monday that it has expanded its testing of Windows XP Service Pack 3, to include subscribers of its MSDN and TechNet programs. Last month, Microsoft made available a test version of XP Service Pack 3 to a group of about 15,000 testers.

The update is significant in that it is the largest change in some time to Microsoft's most-used operating system. However, the XP update is largely a collection of previously issued bug fixes and security updates.

A public beta is scheduled for some later date, with a goal of having it released in final form in the first half of next year. However, Microsoft cautioned that its "timing will always be based on customer feedback as a first priority."

Anticipation over the timing and features of the release has been going on for years. XP SP3 was initially expected as early as 2006, but was delayed as Vista work remained the priority for the Windows team. The first service pack for Windows Vista is also due out in the first half of next year.

During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina.
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The fish stinks from the head. Gates, fire the top brass now, before...
by palex9 December 3, 2007 4:46 PM PST
...its too late... it took your people HOW LONG to come up with
SP3? after they spent years working on VISTA? and we all know
what a disappointment that was...
Reply to this comment
Anger management, dude..
by dhavleak December 3, 2007 6:06 PM PST
"The fish stinks from the head"??
You need some counseling man..
The time has come
by timber2005 December 3, 2007 6:48 PM PST
The time has come for you to realize some things. SP2 changes no less than FIVE FREAKING MILLION LINES OF CODE. FULL REWRITES. SP3 is going to wrap the legacy of XP into its finale. Combining every security fix, every enhancement, everyTHING into one package, and a new installation media. Do you really think Microsoft just says "well we can put five guys on this and get it out next week"? Its not slipstreaming of updates (which is really slow no mattter the method), its recompiling XP from the source with all the fixes built in. All these people who have long forgotten XP source and moved on to Vista for the past SIX YEARS are now looking back and taking shot number 3 to get it perfect for it to last everyone until they move.
So if you can't complemet Microsoft on the achievement, at least thank the testers who risk data and taxes just to make sure the OS you may use has one less bug.
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Dude, lose the hate.
by johnericanderson December 4, 2007 5:39 AM PST
Gates is retired, ie: "Not the head."

You will have to find someone new to hate.
View all 2 replies
its stinks??
by FutureGuy December 3, 2007 8:13 PM PST
MS last quarter was the best since 1999. Get yourself an education. MS has always been releasing SPs for old OS, for free. You might be an Mac so a "free" upgrade to an old OS might come strange to you. Oh MS also release "free" upgrades to old Zune to give them realy every new feature of new, that also might surpise you.
Reply to this comment
this was @palex9
by FutureGuy December 3, 2007 8:13 PM PST
--
"The OS2 petition"!
by Commander_Spock December 3, 2007 9:04 PM PST
"It is known that OS/2 isn't well supported by companies that make software or by individual developers, and OS/2 faces a high possibility of being replaced and/or withdrawn from the market. Hence this petition to IBM so the much-loved OS/2 Technology can be freely distributed and developed around the world. We understand that making OS/2 Open source will be beneficial for the IBM customers as well as for IBM..."

http://www.os2world.com/petition

"MS has always been releasing SPs for old OS..."; also, "free" upgrade to an old OS might come strange to you..."; then, "Ever Onward IBM"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9oh3gqOEKU
Best since 1999?
by Penguinisto December 3, 2007 9:33 PM PST
Well, Gee... while MSFT is growing at a puny single-digit rate, its competition is growing by orders of magnitude larger.

And don't kid yourself - the one and only reason MSFT is bothering with a service pack (which is almost all bug-fixes, and very little in the way of new features) is because there are so many people who have seen Vista and decided to pass it up -- including (and especially) businesses.

If it weren't for the masses taking one look at Vista and saying "blecch" (or some variation thereof), XP SP3 wouldn't have even garnered a footnote in the tech press, much like Windows NT service packs 5 and 6 (followed quickly by SP 6a) got no splashy press.

/P
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The OS/2 "SPECIAL FORCES" A Mission:
by Commander_Spock December 4, 2007 5:38 AM PST
"The Open Source Petition letter to IBM"

http://www.os2world.com/content/view/15847/1/

To retake its place in the banking industry to address "sub-prime crunch"!

http://www.computerworld.com/softwaretopics/os/story/0,10801,83884,00.html
Reply to this comment
"On A Mission"; and, "Getting Ready"...
by Commander_Spock December 4, 2007 8:14 AM PST
... to land on REDMOND!

http://www-306.ibm.com/software/lotus/
View reply
And the troop comes marching in!
by J_Satch December 4, 2007 10:15 AM PST
OS/2, an army of one, literally...

:)
View all 2 replies
"Dinosaur sightings: Lotus Symphony 3"!
by Commander_Spock December 5, 2007 9:07 AM PST
"New regional engineering accreditation system"

http://www.iadb.org/NEWS/articledetail.cfm?artid=4171&language=En

But for the trees and forest (Windows) that we cannot see the Dinosaur that is the new IBM Lotus Symphony.

http://www.news.com/2300-11386_3-6218615-1.html?tag=ss
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About Beyond Binary

During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft.


Beyond Binary is a look at how technology is changing our lives and the people behind all that life-changing stuff, with an extra emphasis on that which emanates from Redmond, Wash.

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