December 3rd, 2007
Windows XP SP3 Release Candidate goes to MSDN, TechNet testers
Microsoft made available on December 3 for download the near-final Release Candidate (RC) of Windows XP Service Pack (SP) 3.
The RC is available to all Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) and TechNet subscribers. This isn’t yet a generally available, “public” RC of XP SP3; that is still coming at some future date that Microsoft hasn’t disclosed.
Microsoft provided an RC “preview” of XP SP3 to 15,000 testers in mid-November.
Microsoft is still on track to ship the final XP SP3 in the first half of calendar 2008. XP SP3 is a rollup of all previously released XP updates, according to Microsoft, “including security updates, out-of-band releases, and hotfixes.”
Lately, Microsoft has been releasing XP SP3 and Vista SP1 builds in lockstep. (The same 15,000 testers that got XP SP3 RC preview also got the Vista SP1 RC preview.) Given that Microsoft told its own employees to expect the company to make the RC of Vista SP1 more broadly available some time this week, it seems logical that the Vista SP1 RC is right around the corner, too.
Microsoft also told its own employees to expect the public test build of Vista SP1 to hit the week of December 10. The final Vista SP1 bits are due in the first calendar quarter of 2008.
Mary Jo has covered the tech industry for more than 20 years. Don't miss a single post. Subscribe via Email or
RSS. You can also follow Mary Jo on Twitter.
Got a tip? Send Mary Jo your rants, rumors, tips and tattles. For disclosure on Mary Jo's industry affiliations, click here or to see Mary Jo's full profile click here.
