Windows XP (MCE) SP3 Schedule & Updates!

Microsoft have made some changes to how and when Windows XP Service Pack 3 will be released.

1. Windows XP Service Pack 3 will contain hotfixes and updates released since Windows XP SP2. It will also include an expanded set of product keys for Windows XP Professional that were originally introduced in Windows XP SP2c.

2. Microsoft have pointed out that there will not be an integrated SP3 release for Windows XP Media Center Edition or Windows XP Tablet Edition. That means you won’t be able to buy or obtain a complete Windows XP Media Center Edition / Tablet Edition SP3 CD.

In addition, users of Windows XP Media Center Edition or Windows XP Tablet Edition will only be able to update to Service Pack 3 through Windows Update.

All languages will now be released in two waves. Earlier, Microsoft said that languages support for Windows XP Service Pack 3 will be released in three waves. What was previously identified as wave 2 and 3 have now been combined into a single wave 2.

Windows XP SP3 will be an optional supplement for OEMs.

Existing end item part numbers will continue to be used for Windows XP SP3. New end item part numbers are not being created for Windows XP SP3.

Due to the changes in language releases and Windows XP SP3 RTM's release, here's the updated schedule.

Wave 1 - Second half of April 2008

Chinese (Simplified), English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish

Wave 2 - Approximately 21 days after Wave 1

Arabic, Chinese (Hong Kong), Chinese (Traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazilian), Portuguese, Russian, Swedish and Turkish

With the exception of Windows XP Media Center Edition and Windows XP Tablet Edition, Windows XP Service Pack 3 will be released in both standalone and integrated formats. It will be available in both CD and DVD formats, except for the Japanese language version which will only be in DVD format.