Small Business Internet Guide-SBOguide

UPDATE: We've been running Windows XP Service Pack 3 for several months now without issue. It should be safe to upgrade to SP3 once you have backed up your system.

The wait is over, Microsoft has finally released Service Pack 3 for WIndows XP. Given Microsoft's disclaimer that "Windows XP SP3 will not significantly change the Windows XP experience", I think it might be prudent to let this one air out a little before you install it on your system.

This serivce pack has been a long time coming, and was delayed during the release cycle. No matter how thoroughly these releases are tested, there always seems to be something that suprises everyone once they get into general distribution.

The Microsoft release white paper notes that this release will provide a baseline to insure that all relevant security patches and updates have been applied. In addition, this service pack provides several enhancements contained in Windows Server 2008. You can read the overview from Microsoft here.

We will keep an eye on the various forums and let you know if anything unusual shows up. For now, I recommend you wait a month or so for the final verdict. Becoming an ealry adopter when it comes to operating system changes is something I encourage small business owners to avoid.