With Service Pack 3 for Windows XP just over the horizon, we’ve managed to get our hands on the internal schedule for the release of the highly anticipated update to the aging operating system. As you can see in the list below, most of the stages will occur before the end of the month, though forced automatic updates won’t land until June. This delay should give system administrators an ample amount of time to prepare for the upgrade or simply come up with an excuse for when things go awry.

• April 14, 2008: Support is available for the release version of Service Pack 3 for Windows XP
• April 21, 2008: Original Equipment Manufacturers, Volume License, Connect, and MSDN and TechNet subscribers
• April 29, 2008: Microsoft Update, Windows Update, Download Center
• June 10, 2008: Automatic Updates

View: Windows XP Service Pack 3 Overview

Microsoft Corp.’s operating systems run most personal computers around the globe and are a cash cow for the world’s largest software maker. But you’d never confuse a Windows user with the passionate fans of Mac OS X or even the free Linux operating system. Unless it’s someone running Windows XP, a version Microsoft wants to retire.
Fans of the six-year-old operating system set to be pulled off store shelves in June have papered the Internet with blog posts, cartoons and petitions recently. They trumpet its superiority to Windows Vista, Microsoft’s latest PC operating system, whose consumer launch last January was greeted with lukewarm reviews.
No matter how hard Microsoft works to persuade people to embrace Vista, some just can’t be wowed. They complain about Vista’s hefty hardware requirements, its less-than-peppy performance, occasional incompatibility with other programs and devices and frequent, irritating security pop-up windows.
For them, the impending disappearance of XP computers from retailers, and the phased withdrawal of technical support in coming years, is causing a minor panic.

View: Full Article @ Yahoo News

Microsoft Corp. today released the remaining 31 language editions of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) to Windows Update. Today’s move followed the debut of the first five languages — English, French, German, Japanese and Spanish — posted by Microsoft to the Windows Update (WU) service on March 18. Before that, the company had warned customers that it would issue SP1 in two waves, and said the follow-on languages would probably be issued this month.
When Microsoft unveiled SP1 via WU, users griped about not being able to download the service pack because of balky device drivers. As an alternative, Microsoft made available a much larger standalone installer that ignores any possible driver issues. The installer was also updated today to support all 36 languages, and is available in 32-bit and 64-bit editions.
Microsoft had also slated automatic download and installation of SP1 for “mid-April,” possibly earlier, but the mid-point of the month came and went Tuesday without the company pushing the service pack to every eligible Vista user. Instead, users must call up Windows Update and manually select the still-optional download.

View: Full Article @ Computer World