Windows XP SP3 Finally Arrives

Of course, you have to know where to find it. Strangely, while it's been leaked by some sites, it's not available directly from the Microsoft Download Center yet. If you know the links, however, you can still get it directly from download.windowsupdate.com. You might want to do this if you want to play it safe.

Currently, the following are available:

English
French
German
Spanish
Japanese
Polish
Russian
Czech
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Chinese (Hong Kong)
Expect more to show up as the day goes on, and hopefully a direct link from the Download Center.

Although the pack is mostly a roll-up of past fixes, 4 "features" have been back-ported from Windows Vista. These are: a new activation process, Network Access Protection Module, Black Hole Router Detection, and Microsoft's Kernel Mode Cryptographics Module.

As we said, there's a lot of pressure on Microsoft to keep XP alive, both from analysts and end users. Microsoft has extended XP's deadline for ULCPCs - but that's it. Meanwhile, OEMs like Dell are going to use the "Downgrade Rights" loophole for Vista to keep XP on PCs.

If you want to add your voice? Infoworld's petition is still available.

Source: Tech Ex