I’m not sure how long this is going to be available, but it looks as though Windows XP users can download the first Release Candidate of Service Pack 3 (SP3) straight from Microsoft. One member over at the WinMatrix forum posted the download link, which directly points to XP SP3 executable installer located on the Windows Update server.
The download is 336MB so make sure you have some time set aside for it to finish, but I have downloaded and verified that it is the real deal. Here are a few things you should know before downloading XP SP3:
- SP3 is cumulative, so users can install SP3 on top of Windows XP SP1 or SP2.
- SP3 is able to update any version of XP, including XP Media Center.
- SP3 will not upgrade Internet Explorer to version 7. The Service Pack does include updates for both versions of Internet Explorer, but the main version of IE that you’re running will remain untouched.
The installation process took me about 15 minutes to complete, which I would say is good because I was expecting it to take much worse. Here is a screenshot gallery from my journey:
(Click to Enlarge)
Download Windows XP SP3 (RC1) from Microsoft
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Tags: Pre-Release, Software, Windows, Downloads, How To, Microsoft, Screenshots, Windows XP
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Why wont it update IE to 7? It is better than IE 6 (but still lags behind Firefox
)
Some people don’t like IE 7 believe it or not, and prefer to stick with IE 6.
when the final sp3 build comes out,do you have to uninstall the rc1 build?
Does SP3 contain all the fixes in SP1 and SP2. In other words, If I am reinstalling XP, does SP3 do it all for me?
Any word on what improvements they actually made to SP3 yet?! I mean I keep seeing all these hacks to download it but nothing yet on what Windows is fixing in this service pack.
Ryan, thanks for your comments, testing that SP3 downlooad, and for making the link available. But, now that you have installed it, should it be only for a limited testing period, I guess what everyone wants to know is … your impressions, about stability, about speed (it’s been said that overall XP speed with SP3 should be within a 10% increase, have you witnessed that?), I mean : is she pretty ?
OK, I know, with the link provided, I may as well test it myself! Gosh, I think I’m getting to rely on techies!
I downloaded XP SP3 to my laptop when it was first announced here at Cybernet Nov 26 & there was nary a hiccup. It has run smooth for me (but then I’m special)
Yes, I’m pretty sure that is Microsoft’s policy on all pre-release versions of service packs.
It does have all the updates included from all previous service packs, which I covered in the first bullet point in the article.
They have a document that they put together listing the changes, but there is nothing exciting that they put in it. I’m guessing that they are withholding the good stuff so that they can make Vista look better.
To be honest I haven’t seen any significant improvements in speed or performance, and the benchmarks that I think you’re talking about were really only tested with Office. It’s likely that the speed boost that they saw is specific to the type of benchmarking that they were doing, and that it’s nothing you’ll notice in everyday usage. I can’t say that I feel like I’m running a new machine with it, so I would probably just say to hold off until the final release. Hope I didn’t burst your bubble.
It doesnt update to ie 7 because ie 7 can have some problems while downloading so why have it make some problems when the user can simply run a program such as auto patcher and update to ie 7 they dont want all the problems.
Sweet, thanks!