Windows XP SP# Final?

[cwknute]

Is the XP SP3 update that is being offerd now at this website a final
edition? I mean is it a beta form or the finished edition.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...99-12AF-42B2-AAB1-B969A62C68A7&displaylang=en

 

[Alias]

Is the XP SP3 update that is being offerd now at this website a final
edition? I mean is it a beta form or the finished edition.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...99-12AF-42B2-AAB1-B969A62C68A7&displaylang=en

Note that it says "candidate". No, it is not the final version yet.

Alias

 

[David Webb]

If you go back to the download page that you cited and scroll down to the
section titled, "Additional Information", it reads as follows:

Please visit the Windows XP SP3 TechCenter to provide feedback on this beta
release.
[end quote]

Based on that, I'd say it's still a beta release.

 

[nass]

Is the XP SP3 update that is being offerd now at this website a final
edition? I mean is it a beta form or the finished edition.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...99-12AF-42B2-AAB1-B969A62C68A7&displaylang=en

No, this SP3 still in Beta, but Beta2 , Microsoft will say if it is The
Final Release and it will be offered with monthly Updates you receive from
them.
HTH.
nass

 

[Alias]

No, this SP3 still in Beta, but Beta2 , Microsoft will say if it is The
Final Release and it will be offered with monthly Updates you receive from
them.
HTH.
nass

As I understand that WGA/N will secretly be included in SP3, I would
recommend waiting before installing to see what happens to others who
just gotta have the "latest and greatest".

Alias

 

[VanguardLH]

in message

Is the XP SP3 update that is being offerd now at this website a
final
edition? I mean is it a beta form or the finished edition.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...99-12AF-42B2-AAB1-B969A62C68A7&displaylang=en

Release Candidate
Preview Edition/Version
Pre-release version
.... and so on, all to hide that a version is "beta" (because "beta"
has a negative connotation that authors want to hide under euphemistic
names).

SP3 has not yet been released. After the release of a service pack,
there are more hotfixes and updates to fix problems that the new code
introduced. The end of mainstream support for Windows XP Pro (x86) is
4/14/2009. It is highly unlikely that Microsoft will have sufficient
time after the release of SP-3 and the updates to fix those new
problems to then get out another service pack before mainstream
support dies.

SP-2 came out sometime in 2005. SP-3 is expected sometime in 2008.
You do the math. Do YOU think Microsoft will have time to come out
with another service pack?

 

[VanguardLH]

As I understand that WGA/N will secretly be included in SP3, I would
recommend waiting before installing to see what happens to others
who just gotta have the "latest and greatest".

Personally I see no reason to install SP-3 until SEVERAL months have
elapsed. If you have SP-2 with all updates thereafter then you have
the vast majority of what is SP-3. With any new code (not already
released via SP-2 and updates thereafter) there can be new problems,
so I'll let Microsoft figure out the patches, hotfixes, and updates
that are needed for SP-3 after it gets released. There is no reason
to break an already functioning host on the promise of a new service
pack. The marketers have done an excellent job of brainwashing
consumers into thinking newer is not only better but also mandatory.

About when SP-3 gets released is when I'll define a new filter in my
newsreader to hide all those posts by boobs that just had to have it
without any knowledge as to why.

 

[nass]

As I understand that WGA/N will secretly be included in SP3, I would
recommend waiting before installing to see what happens to others who
just gotta have the "latest and greatest".

Alias

Hi Alias,
They already mentioned it in the bottom of the Page, if you don't have
ACTIVATED version of windows the SP3 will not install .
HTH.
nass

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Is the XP SP3 update that is being offerd now at this website a final
edition? I mean is it a beta form or the finished edition.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...99-12AF-42B2-AAB1-B969A62C68A7&displaylang=en

SP3 has *not* yet been released, either at this web site or anywhere
else. Anything you find is a pre-release test version.

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

No.

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

VanguardLH wrote:

SP-2 came out sometime in 2005.

Late August 2004, actually.

 

[Alias]

Hi Alias,
They already mentioned it in the bottom of the Page, if you don't have
ACTIVATED version of windows the SP3 will not install .
HTH.
nass

Not relevant. You do know the difference between WPA and WGA (in all its
flavors), don't you?

Alias

 

[VanguardLH]

VanguardLH wrote:


Late August 2004, actually.

Uffda. Even longer between service packs. I just checked and my SP-2
download is dated 11-11-2004. Looks like I took my own advice back
then and didn't install the service pack until many months after its
release so I could keep my hosting usable until all the hotfixes and
updates came out to correct problems introduced with SP-2.

 

[PD43]

Uffda. Even longer between service packs. I just checked and my SP-2
download is dated 11-11-2004. Looks like I took my own advice back
then and didn't install the service pack until many months after its
release so I could keep my hosting usable until all the hotfixes and
updates came out to correct problems introduced with SP-2.

With regular system backups, you could've downloaded the update when
it was first released - without worrying <seg>

 

[VanguardLH]

in message

With regular system backups, you could've downloaded the update when
it was first released - without worrying <seg>

The only way to 100% revert out of a service pack is to restore using
a snapshot (i.e., image). Why would I want to waste time reverting to
a snapshot and then have to figure out from my backups which files to
retrieve that were modified after that install date to get back all my
configuration changes, tweaking, data files, etc. for a NON-CRITICAL
service pack. I have yet to see a single service pack since PCs
showed up in 1982 (well, IBM PCs, that is) that I had to have the
moment it became available. Yep, the marketers have done well to
brainwash you in their mantra of "newer is better, newer is
mandatory". Oh look, a shiny new hammer, so I'll toss the old one
although it works ... and has PROVEN to work and will CONTINUE to
work.

 

[PD43]

The only way to 100% revert out of a service pack is to restore using
a snapshot (i.e., image).

DUH! I think I said that.

Why would I want to waste time reverting to
a snapshot and then have to figure out from my backups which files to
retrieve that were modified after that install date to get back all my
configuration changes, tweaking, data files, etc. for a NON-CRITICAL
service pack.

Backup dated yesterday, updates today... system croaks.

RESTORE FROM YESTERDAY

ANOTHER DUH!!