[XP Pro, fully patched including all WGA, if that makes any difference]. "It" popped up suggesting it download and install itself some hours ago. Has to run alone (no other recent updates right now anyway). Installation as Admin recommended. Some 'remote access' goodies (if you have them) should be uninstalled first. One of the screens claimsWell, "no kidding" on the last. Almost sounds like it is hardly worth the effort but the word at the top of that screen isAnyway, I wasn't ready to "download and install" and have changed auto updates settings to "download but let me choose when to install". Lots of links to look at "What to know before installing..." and "Learn more about What's New in SP3." Most of which should be available in Release notes for Windows XP Service Pack 3.

IE7 is not bundled with the pack though there are IE7 updates for those who already have it.

We upgraded a few machines here at work a week ago with no issues. We have also upgraded a couple of laptops to Vista SP1 and they claim much better performance. I have all the language packs on mine so don't have an upgrade path yet.

It's been a long road to get to this point .. delay after delay after delay .. yet running smack up against the June 2008 date of dropping support for XP.

Support is not being dropped until 2009, they will only not be selling any new copies after that date:
http://www.computerworld.com/action/articl...rce=rss_topic85

Vista? Or XP? "Office XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) for Multilingual User Interface Pack" is available (Win XP SP3 needed as well of course). But a little tricky to find¹. And auto update is a little flaky at the moment, it seems to me.

Or something else again?

¹M$ need Wazoo & dbiel to build them a wiki. :| (straight face)

Vista Ultimate... that SP1 is only available for 5 major languages. Added the rest to see the spam I receive in the proper language.

Not sure .. did you try (starting with) http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/downloads/default.aspx ??? I currently don't have a copy any version of Office installed on any of the systems I've got floating around here.

Possibly settings involved. As I understand it, the XP SP3 is an 'optional' upgrade at the moment. I recall someone stating in a blog (not Microsoft) that the alleged target date was something like 10 June 2008 to change that status which will then cause it to show up on the majority of folks' Update app, those that have everything set to automatic will then have it installled (automatically)

I haven't kept up with Office stuff, so I don't know if there's an automatic update or what configuration settings are available for those updates.

I burned out on providing support over in the Microsoft newsgroups years ago. A few months before Microsoft started their MVP program as it turned out. The incentives offered up for that program just weren't interesting enough for me to go back and get involved again.

Their current mode of offering up a web-based interface to the support newsgroups is just amazingly broken. For instance, the idiots that don't quite grasp what the little "+" sign menas at the right of a Subject line, so there a boatloads of posts from folks asking why no one ever answers any of the questions. (because they don't click on the "+", they never see the hundred or so responses in that thread.)

Compounded by the ISPs/Hosts that add those newsgroups to their newsfeeds ... the problem being that Microsoft's servers don't look for traffic outside of the Microsoft servers ... issue being that a user will post a question to the newsgroup as found on his/her ISP's newsgroup feed, but that query never propgates anywhere but on that ISP's newsgroup ... so that those users gets ticked off, again because no one ever answers the posted query.

No - thanks for that, I was looking for links from the XP SP3 area which wasn't be best starting point I now see.Thanks - that agrees with something I since saw over at GRC and which makes for a more stately progression than it first seemed to me.Integrated into the Microsoft Update facility, auto update recommended/encouraged by M$ (even includes some hardware-associated stuff) but the extra (non-windows) software stuff was what I thought was a little flaky - probably not if the OS SP is recognized as a prerequisite and hasn't been installed yet. M$ of course always intended these things to play nice together but I recall some problems with a media player as an instance where intent and action were disconnected. The SP3 thing is far more complex but maybe they've actually got it right. I'm (now) prepared to believe so, as more detail becomes apparent (not to mention Steven's trouble-free experience).Amen to that and all that followed - it also claggs up web searches for answers. Talking generally, not just M$, how many times following a link where exactly the right question has been asked only to find there was never an answer? Add to that the instances where the link unexpectedly ends up at the outer balwarks of some restricted location either requiring sign-up or purchase to proceed - or even completely closed, without public joining provisions ... {sigh} the internet comes to resemble ever more the 'real' world, but I digress.

I had an update notification pop up in my system tray almost 48 hours ago...it was XP SP3, and I clicked on OK to download it, but I've not received any notification that it even finished downloading. None of my system tray icons are hidden...no yellow shield....I think there might be something wrong with their distribution methodology.

BTW....if you use the "Address" toolbar (hardly anyone does), it will be taken away from you if you install SP3. Google it and you'll see...

DT

Well spotted David! Seems on the current state of play the preferred users' solution is to save a copy of the SP2 browseui.dll (Shell Browser UI Library - from C:\WINDOWS\system32\) with a view to replacing the SP3 version following installation of SP3.

Dunno about that (especially since I don't use that toolbar and have yet to hear what effect such regression might have on the 'SP3 experience' - apart from restoring access to the little-used capability of entering IE7 addresses from the taskbar) but it wouldn't hurt to stash one away prior to running the SP3 installation, to have the option.

Mine is version 6.0.2900.2995 - 999 KB (1,022,976 bytes) - MD5 b99ff349bf53bd91fbddcd6b1ede8980 SHA1 d898fac9a4282fe34c8e0d9ad50202f25b328b05 FWIW, seems there is some/considerable variability but I'm patched right up to date apart from SP3 and certainly have the "Address" toolbar available. But I'm not sure how one would actually achieve the overwriting - in DOS mode? People seem to have managed anyway.

Often enough that this one of those 'vows' I try to work with here .... it is my wish that every query results in an answer, shooting for a resoution every time, but knowing that under the strange situation 'we' are all in, this isn't possible 100% of the time.

Yep, support of that vision is why I (and others too, I'm sure) give my time here - plus I'm not fond of spam/spammers (may emus kick their dunnies down).

About to see if I can get the SP3 installed on my home PC.

[on edit - OK, installation worked fine. Seems a bit over-eager, started to download again (ignored) while I was turning off firewall and other stuff prior to running the installation dialog towards the end, consequently MSU told me I had an important security update unistalled (OWTTE) when installation complete but all was okay after the (mandatory) reboot. First bootup is atypical, initial screen looks like safe mode, a couple of DOS/CMD screens pop up (I manually closed), it is lengthy - but all routine on subsequent test reboot.]