James Bannan13 August 2007, 10:50 PM
Boy those leaks just keep on coming - first Vista SP1 and now XP SP3. Check out our in-depth assessment of the next major update for Windows XP.
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There have been about as many rumours surrounding Windows XP Service Pack 3 as there have about Vista Service Pack 1. Well, it seems that nothing stays secret for very long, and while Microsoft has confirmed that XP SP3 is certainly in the pipeline, there hasn’t been very much in the way of detailed information.
However, hot on the heels of our in-depth examination of the private beta of Vista SP1, our reliable developer source came through with the goods once again, and we have the private beta of Windows XP SP3 in our hot little hands.
Unlike Vista SP1 which was a full DVD ISO with the service pack integrated, XP SP3 is a single 330MB download – basically the same format as SP1 and SP2. This particular build’s current KB number a KB936929 (windowsxp-kb936929-sp3-x86-enu), and the full version build is 5.1.2600.3180.
Like all Windows XP service packs and updates, you can extract the contents of the SP3 executable with WinRAR and slipstream it into an existing Windows XP distribution point (like a network share or bootable CD). To maximise the difference comparison, I tested the installation side-by-side on two Windows XP SP2 machines which have all system drivers installed, but no post-SP2 updates applied. For comparison, Windows XP SP2 has a version number of 5.1 (Build 2600.xpsp_sp2.rtm.040803-2158 : Service Pack 2) and an NTOSKRNL.EXE version of 5.1.2600.2180.
 XPSP2 - WINVER |
 XPSP2 - NTOSKRNL |
Before installing, I had a browse through the extracted files. There were a couple of HTML readmes, which funnily enough were still those used from SP2. Presumably they will be changed before the pack goes out to public beta.
The installation runs like all previous XP service packs – unpacking the files, reminding to create a backup and then rolling through the installation as normal – no real surprises there. Like SP2, it also takes a long time to install. After install the machine needs to be restarted.
 XPSP3 - Installation |
 XPSP3 - Installation Wizard |
If you don’t have Automatic Updates configured (like I didn’t on the test systems) you’ll be prompted again to set it up.
What’s new?
Visually, there’s not much noticeably different about the SP3 desktop. Internet Explorer doesn’t get upgraded to version 7, which is probably a sensible move as many businesses still need the flexibility to choose when -- or if -- to update.
 XPSP3 - Installed |
The version number is now 5.1 (Build 2600.xpsp.070718-2058 : Service Pack 3, v.3180), and the NTOSKRNL.EXE version is now 5.1.2600.3180.
 XPSP3 - System Properties |
 XPSP3 - WINVER |
 XPSP3 - NTOSKRNL |
There’s not much within the updated machine to indicate what’s changed. However, looking at the extracted files (in particular the application EXEs and application extension DLLs, we can get a better picture at what’s been impacted by the service pack:
- Auto Check Utility
- Auto File System Conversion Utility
- Boot Loader
- Fax XP SP1 Patch
- Microsoft .NET Assembly Registration Utility
- Microsoft .NET Framework
- Microsoft .NET Framework CAS Policy Manager
- Microsoft .NET Framework IL assembler
- Microsoft .NET Services Installation Utility
- Microsoft Common Language Runtime native compiler
- Microsoft FrontPage CGI Server Administrator
- Microsoft FrontPage Hit Counter
- Microsoft FrontPage Server Administration Snapin
- Microsoft FrontPage Server Administrator
- Microsoft FrontPage Server Administrator Client
- Microsoft FrontPage Server Extensions
- Microsoft FrontPage Server Extensions
- Microsoft FrontPage TCP/IP Tester
- Microsoft IE Execute shell
- Microsoft JScript .NET Compiler
- Microsoft Telnet Client
- Peer-to-Peer Custom Setup
- Registry Editor
- SetRegNI Application
- Stub loader for WINNT32 setup program (WINNT.EXE & WINNT32.EXE)
- Tablet PC Calibration
- ToGac Application
- Update RunOnce Service
- UpdateUtil Appliation
- Visual Basic .NET Command Line Compiler
- Visual C# Command Line Compiler
- Windows Messenger
- Windows Service Pack Auto-Recovery Tool
- Windows Service Pack Uninstall
- Windows XP SP installer downgrade tasks
- Windows XP SP installer tasks
After the fireworks that accompanied XP SP2, SP3 is almost anticlimatic. However, the rumour mill didn’t anticipate any new features, rather a raft of security updates and bug fixes. There have been plenty of of post-SP2 patches for Windows XP, but at this stage it’s difficult to ascertain which ones have been incorporated into SP3 or superseded by the service pack itself, which seems to be just a solid, genuine OS update, with updates applied across core applications and nothing to be particularly worried about.
There’s no confirmed release date for SP3 yet, but rumours place it sometime in the first half of 2008.