Microsoft released the second service pack for Windows XP in August 2004. Almost three years after that point the company begins distributing Windows XP SP2 once again via Automatic Updates, but this time for Windows XP Professional x64. There is the generalized belief that between Windows XP in 2001 and Windows Vista in 2007, Microsoft focused little on the Windows platform. Not exactly true.
Microsoft released Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows XP Starter Edition and Windows
XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 in August 2004, then Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 in October 2004, Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 in March 2005, Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition and Windows XP Professional x64 Edition in April 2005 and Windows Server 2003 R2 in December 2005.
Considering Windows XP SP2 a completely different operating system than XP SP1, Microsoft has done a lot of work. But one interesting thing is the fact that the launch of XP Professional x64 Edition is after Windows XP SP2. "In August 2004, Windows XP Service Pack 2 was released for the x86 editions of Windows XP. This was before the Windows XP Professional x64 Edition and Windows Server 2003 x64 Editions were released in March 2005, sharing a common codebase. Windows XP Service Pack 2 patches the x86 editions of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Service Pack 2 patches the x64 version of Windows XP," explained Joseph Lumia, Microsoft Account Technology Specialist.
Windows Server 2003 SP2 is also Service Pack 2 for Windows XP Professional, x64 Edition. The release has been available for manual download since mid March 2007, but on June 12, Microsoft will begin pushing the upgrade via Automatic Updates. "Windows Server 2003 x64 Editions and Windows XP Professional x64 Edition were introduced with the release of Windows Server 2003 SP1, all sharing a common codebase. It is this common codebase that allows SP2 to provide updates to all versions of Windows Server 2003 and the Windows XP Professional x64 Edition," Lumia added.
