Windows XP Service Pack 3 slated for April 29th Release

The much anticipated release of Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 3 is to be released to Original Equipment Manufacturers(OEMs) on April 21st.  XP SP3 will then be available for download from Microsoft Update, Windows Update site, and the Microsoft Download Center on April 29th.  June 10th, XP SP3 will be available via automatic updates.  Sources: Neowin.net Arstechnica.com Technewsworld.com

Service Pack 3 has been reported to include a total of 1,073 fixes according to Wikipedia.  The update also allows XP to be installed without a product key and run until the end of the 30-day activation period without a product key.

These dates have NOT been confirmed from Microsoft as of the writing of this article.  So there’s a chance that these dates could be off.  This will be the last Service Pack for the Windows XP operating system from Microsoft as reported.  June 30th, 2008 was announced as the last day XP can be purchased for new PC’s.  After this date it will only be sold to OEMs installing on subnotebooks or UMPC’s until June 30th, 2010.