I have been waiting for it for ages and finally, it’s here. Windows XP Service Pack 3 has arrived. Vista was a non-starter from the very beginning. Everyone I spoke to has had nothing but remorse for upgrading to Vista.

Windows XP with SP3 is much faster than Vista on the same hardware configuration and you can get by with much less RAM and hard disk space. For Vista Ultimate you needed at least 4GB of RAM. Vista’s Service Pack 1 was pathetic, but XP on SP3 makes your Windows run much smoother. For one, you will find Internet Explorer crashes less often.

Windows XP SP3 is available from Microsoft Windows Update (www.windowsupdate.microsoft.com) or from the Windows Download Centre.

Your PC must meet some minimum requirements before you can download XP’s SP3. Microsoft recommends installation of SP2 before SP3. The Windows XP SP2 website is at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=26347. Here is how you prepare your PC so that your installation of XP SP3 is perfect.

Start your computer and log on as an administrator. Administrators have unrestricted access to the operating system and its settings. To determine which group a user is set up for, click Start, click Control Panel, and then open User Accounts.

If your computer is running on battery power, plug it in so that your computer does not lose power during the installation. If you use Fast User Switching, make sure everyone else is logged off. As a precaution, back up your files on an external hard disk, DVD, CD, USB flash drive or network folder. You can use the Backup and Restore Wizard to back up documents, pictures and other files.

Close all open programs. This includes your Internet Security Suite or anti-virus and anti-spyware software. This is absolutely necessary because these virus protection programs prevent system files from being changed.

Now go to the Windows Update site and follow the wizard that appears on the screen. The download is around 70MB and installation will take around 30-45 minutes. My installation went without a hitch, including on an old PC that had been similarly updated to SP2. I was even able to update the Windows in my iMac that came with Boot Camp, although I was foxed for a while. A word of caution, though, if SP3 does not work for you remove it from Add Remove programs in the Control Panel.

You will not see any dramatic change in your computer's interface after you update. SP3 is the final one for XP. Hang onto to it up to 2010 till Windows 7 appears. The pack comprises a collection of previously released fixes and product enhancements, as well as a few new features that are unique to this release. You can apply SP3 to Windows XP Home Edition, Professional Edition, Tablet PC Edition (any version) or Media Centre Edition.

So what should you expect to see in SP3? Well, some basic features are upgraded, such as Microsoft Management Console to 3.0 and WPA (WiFi Protected Access) to 2, but Internet Explorer is not upgraded to version 7. You have to upgrade your Internet Explorer separately. Also added are two new features which help network administrators and another which ensures that data flow smoothly into your computer through routers.

Macs with Boot Camp

If you are running Windows XP SP2 on a Mac with Boot Camp you will not be able to install SP3 just like that. Go to http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/bootcampupdate21forwindowsxp.html first. You will find an update for Boot Camp here. Installation of Boot Camp 2.1 is required before installing Windows XP SP3. The update also addresses issues and improves compatibility with Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Windows Vista running on a Mac computer using Boot Camp. It is highly recommended for all Boot Camp users.

Those running Windows on Parallels on a Mac should not have any problem. If you do, download the disk image of the SP3 file. It is a very long url so I will not mention it here. Just search for “Windows XP Service Pack 3 — ISO-9660 CD Image File” in Google and you will find the link. Download the file and proceed with the installation by double clicking on it.

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