The end of 2007 and the beginning of 2008 have been a veritable Service Pack fiesta for Microsoft in terms of the company's flagship products. Both Windows and Office have got their fair share of updates, but the productivity suite of both the 2003 and 2007 versions has simply beaten the Windows client to the punch, so to speak. Microsoft made available both Office 2003 SP3 and Office 2007 SP1 ahead of Windows Vista SP1 and Windows XP SP3. In fact, the third service pack for Office 2003 dropped as early as September 2007.

Microsoft's perspective over Office 2003 SP3 is that the service pack represents merely a pit stop for Office users on the road to the Office 2007 System. At the same time, Office 2003 SP3 brought to the table enhancements around the board from security to performance and to increase compatibility with Windows Vista.

"Office 2003 Service Pack 3 (SP3) is the culmination of several years of improvements to the product suite. SP3 improves the performance and simplifies the use of applications they rely upon most. Office 2003 SP3 makes it easier to work with the Windows Vista operating system, exchange files with people who use the 2007 Microsoft Office system, and interact with servers in the 2007 release. And by addressing more customer requests, Office 2003 SP3 minimizes issues that previously caused distractions," Microsoft revealed in the official Office 2003 SP3 whitepaper.

But even though the Redmond company initially dropped SP3 for Office 2003 back in September 2007, the service pack will only today start being served via Automatic Updates. Of course that Office 2003 SP3 is also still available as a standalone download via this link.

"Office 2003 SP3 has been available interactively on MU for many months now, but today [February 28, 2008] marks the beginning of automatic distribution to MU users. We've heard great feedback from customers who've already installed SP3, and feel confident in distributing it to the many users who rely on MU to keep their PCs secure, reliable, and up-to-date. Note: The automatic distribution process will be gradual, so some users may see it install today, and for others, it may take a little longer," revealed a Microsoft representative on behalf of the Office & MU Teams.