XP Service Pack 2 vs 3

[Mister_K]

Are there any performance advantage with service pack3 over 2? Shall i stay with service pack 2? I play games and use programs such as photoshop and AAE, Sony Vegas.

 

[ruready2]

There are no performance advantages to sp3 in the sense that you refer to. The primary purpose behind service pack 3 is to address certain security issues not covered by sp2. For this reason, it is recommended you upgrade to sp3. Additionally, the security updates for sp2 are scheduled to end on or about July 13, 2010. Although there has been no indication from Microsoft as to this, this very well could be the beginning of the end of Xp altogether. However, unlike most all of the past operating systems published by Microsoft, Xp remains one of the most widely used and liked operating systems.

Should you decided to update to sp3, which for security reasons I recommend, make sure you have no other applications running during both the download and installation. Depending on the speed of your computer the update can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.

Happy surfing

 

[JMMD]

I would agree, you need SP3. Backup your important files first, and then do the upgrade.

 

[superty12]

Windows End-Of-Support

Support is ending for 32 bit versions of Microsoft Windows XP without SP3. (There is no SP3 for 64 bit versions.) I can post the Microsoft link. (And have! )

 

[Mister_K]

I was doing some research and many people say SP3 is bit sucky.... problems, bugs etc.. etc.. then again the post was from 2008/09.

Anyhow....Not sure if i should stay with SP2 then as my PC is 64bit valiable and i am not sure if i should stay 32bit or go 64bit =/. Anyway i will probs stay 32bit and get SP3 as soon as possible. (i hate making backups... takes long time ><)

Anyway cheers guys for the info : ) much appreciate it.

 

[ruready2]

The support for sp2 64bit will end in 2014.

 

[tipstir]

I heard they have extended to 2016 for XP. Unless it was changed back to 2014. SP3 has better wireless features and security is better than SP2. But under 7 and XP there is LLTD issue to be fixed. Once that is fixed then all 7 boxes can see XP boxes both ways. Right now XP boxes can access web files only. If you use IIS to get around the file shares issues.

 

[Ultiweap]

The support for sp2 64bit will end in 2014.

Support is not ending for XP completely in 2011?

 

[ruready2]

End of support for Windows XP SP2 and Windows Vista RTM

As we announced in 2008, support for Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) will end on July 13, 2010. Support for Windows 2000 will end on the same date. Support for Windows Vista Release to Manufacturing (RTM) will end on April 13, 2010.

NOTE: There is no Service Pack 3 for the 64-bit version of Windows XP. If you are running the 64-bit version of Windows XP with Service Pack 2, you are on the latest service pack and will continue to be eligible for support and receive updates until April 8, 2014.

To find out if you are running the 64-bit version of Windows XP, right-click My Computer, then click Properties. If you do not see "64-bit" listed, then you are running the 32-bit version and you need to install Service Pack 3 . If "64-bit" is listed under System, then you are running the 64-bit version.

https://www.microsoft.com/windows/enterprise/products/windows-7/end-of-support.aspx

 

[tipstir]

I was talking about in general Windows XP Pro for companies was extended to 2014 and some rumors was that it was going to 2016. Just to may corporate companies are still using Windows XP Pro SP3. MS has to support the Client OS for these companies.

 

[Ultiweap]

Hmmm the best thing to do is to move to Windows 7 with the SP1 coming out soon. Thanks for the info ruready2.

 

[ruready2]

You still have a few years of sp3. While MS may desire to end the support sooner, Xp remains the most popular OS ever distributed. Either way.. In the end this is nothing more than Microsoft trying to force Win 7 and later versions to come.

 

[Ultiweap]

Yes sure and also due Windows 7 is the best effective for the moment.

 

[Archean]

In some ways XP is starting to show its age, and I think mainstream XP usage will continue to fall, reason being many mainstream users also use their PCs for entertainment etc. which also include gaming, and gaming usually evolve at much rapid pace, hence, in the longer term, XP will become a bottleneck as it doesn't support DX10 or above, whereas, almost all the graphic hardware available does that.

Now to your question about XP x86 SP3, I've couple of machines at work running this, and there are no issues with regard to stability and / or speed.

 

[raybay]

"I was doing some research and many people say SP3 is bit sucky"

You need to provide more information than that. Saying "sucky" without explanation is not helpful, nor useful in an argument.

We don't know any users or clients who think SP3 is Sucky... In fact, most users cannot tell the difference...

And just about everybody will need it for the security updates.

 

[LookinAround]

I agree with the general sentiment of all the prior posts. Re: specific to XP SP3

SP3 had its fair share of problems during the first 6 months of its release but that was a good while back. At this point, it's pretty well "burned in" and i'm also not aware of any problems with it.

So go ahead and upgrade but still be prudent and backup all your stuff / clone your hard drive first. (Upgrade is smooth 95% of the time but "your mileage may vary" )

 

[tipstir]

I second that updates are needed today as more threats that need to be closed. With the updates (patches) your system is going to be wide open. SP3 added better features XP for the Pro side. MSE works fine with it for protection. Like with SP2, SP3 brings back the TCP.SYS limit of (10) is back though you can change it back to the setting you need if you do BT and gaming to (200) if your home router can do MSC (max session connections) of 200 or more. To change this you need this program reviewed by me here.

 

[ruready2]

Agreed completely.. Sp3 did have it's issues in the frist 6 months or so. In fact, I, myself refused to upgrade to it for a while. But, let's be honest here. Isn't that typical for almost all MS releases?? Also, I have Win 7 as a secondary boot option. I would have to agree with tipstir.. It's a pretty smooth deal. Resembles Xp tremendously. But, why shouldn't it? After all, Vista was a disaster in my opinion.