I put it on my old laptop last week, it is nothing special (not a radical upgrade like SP2) more a cumulative update of windows update, takes a while to do, but doesn't show when installed. Would be handy when there is a reason to reinstall windows as it would negate all the little updates one would have to download.

It is included in auto updates.

Oh right, I will have to check this, and yes it would be handy to have this to save having to download it again in the future. I have the SP2 disc, which was on the front of a PC mag at the time of release.

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I would encourage all folks considering this option to very seriously consider at least SP2.

Can't recommend SP3 (yet).  Installed it on three machines last week.  No serious bugs (yet).  But, haven't seriously tested it/ pushed it.

XP w/ SP2 is ... well, rather essential for security reasons.

If you REALLY REALLY REALLY know what you are doing .. you probably can get away with it.

But, SP2 is pretty hard-tested under fire at this point and is a good platform from which to add in other security patches and add-on protections.  For the vast majority of normal users, please make sure you have SP2 .. you are protecting everyone else, also.  You are not only risking yourself without it.


I'm heavily paranoid over the auto-updates 'feature' and it is disabled on every microsoft system I run.  Flip side is that I run manual updates every week to see what is offered & pick & choose what I let get installed.

Initial reports are that SP3 looks pretty stable; as mentioned a post or three up, it's more of a security/performance update/roll-up for convenience.

It is a b*t(h to D/L-install.  Takes frickin' forever.  Definitely D/L the stand-alone network install and run it that way rather than as live-update.  MUCH smoother experience.

It will try to turn on your live updates about three times and really annoy you by asking several times .. but Just Say No and after a reboot or two it will stop asking and let you do normal manual/custom updates.

  - -t3h 3Xp4t