You may remember that in an April 21st blog, I told you that Microsoft was releasing Service Pack 3 for Windows XP in about a week. You may noticed that it hasn't arrived yet. The reason is that Microsoft has temporarily pulled it off the market while it fixes a problem. Microsoft is calling it a "compatibility issue." The problem has to do with something called "Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System." This is a special part of Windows used for retail chain management for small and midsize customers.
For us non-retail-chain-management folks, the bottom line is that Service Pack 3 is on indefinite hold...although it has shown up on some pirate Web sites. Service Pack 3 adds several networking and security improvements, and compatibility with Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 security credential providers. It also incorporates features previously available individually as separate updates, such as Microsoft Windows Imaging Component (WIC), Microsoft Management Console (MMC) 3.0, and Wi-Fi Protected Access 2. A recent test in the labs shows that SP3 does make Windows XP run a bit faster also.
I guess we will just have to wait for Microsoft to do its job. One does have to commend them for not releasing software that wasn't quite ready.
In a related story, Microsoft has withdrawn its offer to buy Yahoo. Microsoft raised its offer from $31 per share to $33, but Yahoo held fast at $37. Microsoft then said bye-bye to Yahoo. Most experts think it is probably a good thing for Microsoft.
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