Mind blowing! Simply mind blowing! Shocking! And last, but definitely not least, a true revelation. Microsoft has published the official release notes for Windows XP Service Pack 3, and, boy, are you in for a treat! I bet you didn't see this coming in the least. At this point in time, there are but scarce details available on the third and final service pack for XP. The Redmond company has postponed its release several times, taking it from 2006 as far back as the first half of 2008. The abstract launch dated sometime by mid 2008 is the sole aspect of XP SP3 that has officially been confirmed. But this is all about to change... Or is it?

Just take a look at the official release notes for XP SP3, while, of course, keeping in mind that "this article discusses a beta release of a Microsoft product. The information in this article is provided as-is and is subject to change without notice," as the company has put it. And, of course, that by this point you have visited the link to the release notes for XP SP3 and have been disappointed by the extended level of transparency that Microsoft has offered on this service pack for XP.

"No formal product support is available from Microsoft for this beta product. For information about how to obtain support for a beta release, see the documentation that is included with the beta product files, or check the Web location where you downloaded the release," Microsoft added. And the Redmond company even manages to finish at an apex of user frustration, by revealing that "release notes are not available for the Windows XP SP3 beta release." Windows XP SP3 RC has been made available to all MSDN and TechNet subscribers on December 3.