After Windows 98 and Millenium, a new Microsoft product is about to remain without technical support. Don't get scared, it's not Windows XP, but the first service pack released for the old and vulnerable operating system.


The software giant announced it would end technical support for Windows XP Service Pack 1 (SP1) and Service Pack 1a (SP1a) on October 10, 2006, and together with them all the security updates aimed at these products.

The first service pack for Windows XP was released on September 9, 2002, the most significant improvements including support for the USB 2.0 standard and the Set Program Access and Defaults utility. Service Pack 1a was released as a direct consequence of the lawsuit with Sun Microsystems and it removed the Java virtual machine.

Aside from the improvements brought to the OS, the two service packs also targeted the plethora of security holes in XP, which continue to force the software behemoth to release monthly patches.

And since we are talking about the service packs, we remind you that Microsoft will release Windows XP Service Pack 3 somewhere in the second half of 2007, provided that Vista's release date doesn't change. Service Pack 3 will include Internet Explorer 7, Windows Media Player 11 and some other apps.