Not so Smart ?

I hope NeoSmart got written approval from the Vole to talk about SP3.

The licence agreement for beta testers tends to preclude making public statements without vole approval.

They could find themselves without future beta versions of any of the O/S's. That sounds smart.

updated windows product activation?

What is the updated product activation? Does that mean that they are now porting some of the vista drm crap into xp?

I hope it doesn't make XP worse

Let's face it, Vista is a piece of c**p. If the SP3 for XP contains so many things that are used in Vista, will it make XP worse than it is now?
For Bill, the biggest enemy for Vista is in fact XP. Who knows if they wouldn't trying to screw XP in order to make people move to Vista?

You idiot

You slam Vista and then when XP becomes more like Vista, you praise XP. How much sense does this make?

evil scheme

Probably the service pack 4 will convert your XP fully to Vista.

Here it comes...

...the Windows bashing, that is. Every version of Windows ever released has been summarily dismissed as a piece of c**p. I don't understand why people love to hate MS so much. Look, you don't want an underdog OS. It doesn't, and never will, play well with others. Take your free XP upgrade and smile - 'cuz it's free after all! If it also happens to protect the MS product better, I'm all for that too. Why shouldn't they?

DX10 would fix the whole situation

They could include DX10 and then no one would have a reason to use Vista. Oh wait, they don't want to include something useful, they want to include DRM, product activation updates, and mess with the networking architecture which is awful currently under Vista.

Just what we all need, updates that put all of the irritations of Vista into XP, and none of the useful things. Brilliant.

I don't hate Microsoft

P.S. to Mike

I don't hate Microsoft, since they do make some very good products. I do, however, hate Vista, and the DRM-infested way they are going. As an MCSE, and a long time Windows user and supporter of Microsoft products, my opinions on Vista should matter to Microsoft.

If Microsoft cared about their customers, they would get rid of the aspects of Vista that are customer unfriendly. It isn't just the "faceless Linux devotees in the basement" that hate Vista, it is those that purchase IT products for businesses, those that support Microsoft products and those that would use it at home but do not because it does not work properly.

I hope that answers your questions.

Agreed

I agree with Mike. take youre free upgrade and STFU. The editors should rename this site to The M$Hater

Wait.. Product Activation...Again?

I would greatly appreciate a detailed summary of the so-called enhancements in SP3 as I would not like to "blow up" a perfectly good OS if I don't have to.

One thing that particularly caught my eye is the mention of that idiotic product activation scheme that was "back ported" from Vista OS.

Are you kidding me? That thing is so incredibly messed up (for corporate users anyway) that it has become one of many nails in the coffin of the upgrade path to WIndows Vista for corporate users brave enough to try it (and ANY user for that matter)..

Now Bill wants to bring that pathetic model BACK to XP and ruin it? Surely you are joking!

what OS you use? I use Vista-XP (I think)

It seems to me like XP will slowly morph into Vista. SP4 might include DX10 or they just might make Vista more XP like. Either way as a consumer I am fighting a losing battle against a company that force-feeds me crap year after year while telling me that I am a naughty user and that I should shut up because they know what is best for me.

xp sp3

Does this mean xp will now use 760 plus mb just to tick, over now.

Leave XP alone except for security and performance fixes

What's wrong with the product activation in XP at the moment? I think the activation code, in XP, is more than adequate.

I agree with Han. Vista is "trash". Vista is a resource hog and I can see why individuals and companies are turning to Linux as their main client & server operating systems.

I really hope the performance of XP with SP3 is much faster than XP with SP2, because if the performance is slower, I will NOT install SP3.

Who needs Vista?

With all this coming to XP and the ability to download Vista themes from Softpedia who needs vista?

SP3 & DRM

May be is time to check out Linux.
DRM infestation will be hard to swallow.

Windows Product Activation model

I do not see how including Windows Product Activation model is good. Next DRM will come to XP.

Windows Product Activation model is very annoying as sometimes if you update a driver or make a minor modification the system will be deactivated. That is one reason why I quit Vista, beside the crazy resources requirement and DRM.

Every time the system was deactivated I had to ki$$ Micr$oft @$$ to get it activated.

Of Course !

Of course theyre going to ruin XP, to make sure that people have to move to Vista.. Thats just their regular mafia tactics .. Why does this still surprise people ?

Port not from but to Vista

Why not port all the useful things from older Windows versions to Vista? E.g. no DRM, no product activation stuff, none of this evil. Would make customers very, very happy.

Agree x2

I agree with graham who agrees with Mike.
Just take your free stuff and STFU.
Like if you buy a music CD and there is free Rootkits, just take it and STFU. Its free!
If you get SP3 for the added security and are forced to have the new Windows Product Activation model, Just take it and STFU. Its new! AND its free!!!
If you get a free DRM or if MS dose a stealth upgrade, who cares.
Just "take your free upgrade and smile - 'cuz it's free after all!"

Oh and if you like free stuff so much, you shuld take a look at this new thing called p2p.

"Free"? "Upgrade"?

1) It's only "free" if you have pirated the initial install of XP. Otherwise, you paid for the upgrade with the license fee.

2) It's only an "upgrade" if it improves usability/performance/security. If it does not of these, it could actually be a "downgrade".

XP & EOL

I'll try and keep my personal opinion of Vista out of this, but suffice to say, it has a huge number of patches. The first SP will bring along more.

The same technology is now making its way into XP, which only has support till the middle of next year from MS (IIRC - It was extended).
After this time, no non-critical patches will be released. So any of those Vista annoyances that disrupt the user will be left for them to deal with.

Call me cynical here, but I have visions of these 'issues' being suddenly 'fixed' in Vista in a bid to get people to upgrade.

It seems like a double message they are delivering too. It was only this week that WGA was removed from IE7. Now they plan to port the 'anti-piracy-deosnt-actually-work' code from Vista to cover an OS they won't be supporting for much longer?....it just sounds like they *want* to piss users off

Originally, we were told by MS that WGA was only to "inform" people of non-genuine versions and to help them buy a licence copy (which is fair enough). Nice to see how long that agenda lasted :)
I'm not against MS protecting their investments in any way - we all have to make a living, but having hidden stuff on my machine, reporting back to MS if I'm a criminal or not (which has been proved time and time again gives false positives) scares me.

SP3 sounds like more of an update for MS, not the home user :)

Sounds good so far..

Someone like me who has a good investment in music creation software and hardware can really appreciate adding enhancements to XP without taking away anything that has made it work so well. A small foray into using Vista as a content creation platform has proved to be a step backward.. it's like going back to Win 3.1 when only one application could claim the sound card at any given moment..

..anyone who owns a Creative audio product and is on Vista knows my pain. When MS removes DirectSound for an emulation layer otherwise known INDIRECTSound in the name of DRM, it can't be good.

So bring on SP3, no DRM, and include reliability and new stuff. I'm 100% for it..

:(

Now I'm gonna have to down grade to 98 to get away from vista :(

Dodge

I think I will completely be attempting to dodge this service pack for the time being until I can find out exactly what everything does that's been handed down from VISTA

A glitch maybe a glitch but distorting a glitch seems even worse.

Free upgrade?

Free upgrade? That is the stupidest thing I have heard today. Stupid clueless sheep...

Tricking us in Vista

Vole's goal here is to make XP a bogged down Frankenstein in order to force us to accept Vista as an actual upgrade.

Every single version

It is true that every single version of Windows has been "summarily dismissed" as a piece of crap.
It is also true that every single version of Windows has had its quirks and unexplained nonsense settings or behavioral conundrums that have been endlessly commented on by numerous pundits.
Finally, it is undoubtedly true that none of this has kept Windows from becoming the #1 OS of all times, spot which it has been nailed to despite the feeble callings of the Alternative OS world.
Given that Windows is the most-used OS of the world bar none, it also has the biggest following and the biggest number of experienced users.
Experienced users that are growing increasingly tired of being considered as cash cows and stupid lusers.
Once upon a time, Windows was rightly built for people who didn't know and didn't care about configuring their PC. And there will always be people who belong to that category.
But there is now a rapidly-growing mass of people who DO care and, more importantly, DO know about their PC and what exactly it is they want from it. And those people simply cannot accept the "hand-holding-you-don't-know-better" attitude that still pervades the OS.
These people who do know will not stand getting a patch that makes their life more difficult, period.
Some day, Microsoft will accept that. In the centuries to come, the Windows-zealots might as well, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting.
Meanwhile, I cordially invite all those who think this site is pure M$-hating to go click somewhere else.

Pascal.

Bring DX10 to XP M$ idiots

Damn you M$

Just bring DX10 to Windows XP
everything else in Vista is just garbage

But again DX10 is not something to be really thrilled either...from what current DX10 games look like

Taking a step backward

Now isn't that to take a step backwards?
Microsoft are just being extremely arrogant to us customers,
They know there are tons of flaws in Vista and they should solve all those first instead of releasing another service pack to XP.
I'm a Vista user and I like it but still there are some problems I would like to be solved.

WinVista == WinMe

If MS is backporting to XP some of those few good things there are in Vista (except DRM), that definitely means that they themselves are contributing to sink their infamous new os. It sounds like they are starting to learn some lessons, maybe in the future they won't come up with things full of special effects, but practically useless. Some REAL INNOVATION is what people want.

DX10 perhaps?

I know it'll never happen but...

We've heard it before

The first year after XP came out it was harped on without mercy by computer sites because of it's inherent inferiority compared to Win2k. IMHO - it still is, given it runs the same apps only with more system resources in use. Plus, even with SP3, where is Windows XP Server??? Oh wait, it doesn't exist.

XP SP3 needs only a single security update; disabling admin rights for the default login account for every home PC running it. End of the Spyware / Malware industry as we know it.

I'll put up with Vista's shortcomings as long as it forces novice Windows users in some sort of restricted Admin environment. Given all the background security utilities that your average XP home user ignorantly runs anyway while having local admin rights, the Vista installs I've done seem like a performance improvement.

It's a DRM Backport

The "Kernel Mode Cryptographic Module" may provide more crypto services, but what are the chances its for increased DRM support?


"Network Access Protection modules and policies." Oh no. You don't mean the "Are you sure?" poor excuse for a security model is coming to XP too?

More bad news for consumers. I wonder how much of this abuse they will take?

Nothing useful then

Well, they sound like wonderful reasons to turn off auto updates. All the baggage and increased possibilities of being unable to do the simplest things compensated by, umm, the square root of FA.

u forget to mention few things

u forget to mention things like REMOTE DESKTOP check it on http://windowsxpservicepack3.blogspot.com/