Watch For Windows XP SP3

Microsoft is releasing its latest and final Service Pack for Windows XP to the general public today. Service Pack 3 includes a large amount of hot fixes and a few functionality changes.  Beginning today SP3 will start being offered via the Windows Update Service.  This means that if you have auto updates turned on in Windows XP, Service Pack 3 may be downloaded and installed automatically on your machine depending on how you have it configured.

What does this mean?  During our testing we had quite a few issues with Service Pack 3 on older systems.  We install Service Pack 3 on all our new systems and have had no issues.  So, just be aware that you could have problems.  Of course create a full backup of your system before you apply SP3 just in case.

If you typically install all the Microsoft hotfixes on your computer and your computer is a little aged, I don’t think I would take the a chance with SP3.  Keep up with the standard hotfixes and start thinking about buying a new system.  If you want to stay with XP, even though XP has been retired, you can still get systems with XP on them by using Microsoft’s downgrade program.  But why don’t you give Vista a try?