It's a wrap: Microsoft finishes XP SP3

But the service pack won't get to Windows Update until next week

As expected, Microsoft Corp. today announced that it has finished work on Windows XP Service Pack 3 and released it to computer makers and volume licensing customers.

"Windows XP has released to manufacturing," said Chris Keroack, the service pack's release manager, in a message posted to a TechNet support forum Monday at around 1 p.m. EDT. "Windows XP SP3 bits are now working their way through our manufacturing channels to be available to OEM and enterprise customers."

Last week, the Neowin.net Web site reported that Microsoft would declare XP SP3 as RTM (release to manufacturing) today and follow up by posting it for download on its Web site and through Windows Update April 29.

Keroack confirmed that date today. "We are also in the final stages of preparing for release to the Web on April 29, via Windows Update and the Microsoft Download Center," he said.

Users will be able to update their XP systems to SP3 starting next week, but they will have to select the optional download in Windows Update or download a much larger, stand-alone installer from the Microsoft site. The company won't begin pushing XP SP3 to users who have Windows Update set to automatically download and install important patches or fixes until "early summer," said Keroack.

Some sources have been more specific about when Microsoft will flip the Automatic Updates switch. TechARP.com, a Malaysian Web site that correctly predicted several release dates for Windows Vista SP1, said last week that Microsoft will begin pushing XP SP3 on June 10.

Microsoft has set June 30 as the end of XP's availability to major computer makers and in retail, just days after SP3 will conceivably hit Automatic Updates. Although CEO Steve Ballmer said last week that "we will listen" to customers who want the operating system's life span extended, he made no promises. Microsoft did not immediately reply to questions today about XP and SP3, including whether it would grant the operating system another reprieve.

Today's RTM announcement was considerably lower-key than when Microsoft trumpeted the availability of Vista SP1 in early February. Then, Mike Nash, vice president of Windows product management, posted a long blog entry to broadcast that SP1 had shipped.

In comparison, the TechNet forum used by Keroack is unknown to most users.

what new features are there in SP3?

As befits a service pack, SP3 is mostly about patches and hotfixes and other updates that have been issued incrementally since 2004, when Microsoft pushed Windows XP SP2 out the door.

But there are some new features, which Microsoft spelled out in release notes that it's been tweaking for months. Probably the biggest, at least in terms of the number of users it will impact, is the change in product activation.

New installations of Windows XP SP3 will give users the same 30-day grace period currently offered to Vista customers before they're required to enter a product activation key.

Microsoft made it plain that the change is only for new installations and doesn't come into play when users upgrade from SP2 or an even earlier edition of XP. "As with previous service packs, no product key is requested or required when installing Windows XP SP3 using the update package available through Microsoft Update," the SP3 release notes read.