It's but a question of priorities...

May 24, 2007 10:48 GMT  ·  By

On May 21, 2007 Microsoft confirmed not only the delivery and validity of Windows XP Service Pack 3, but also a potential launch date by the end of 2007. Just three days later, the Redmond Company is playing a whole different tune. Although on Monday, May 21, 2007 it had hinted that the third service pack for Windows XP will be served by the end of this year, Microsoft's change of heart leaves users still hoping. No less than three Microsoft official press releases referencing Windows XP SP3 are dated three days ago (emphasis added).

"Single agent included in Windows: Computers running Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and future versions of Windows XP will include the NAP Agent component as part of the core operating system." (here)

"The SoH protocol now allows "client standardization," as organizations can now standardize on the (SoH) client protocol, regardless of their NAC infrastructure. The SoH client is available in Windows Vista, will be available in the next service pack of Windows XP, and through NAP partners for non-Microsoft operating systems. One of our NAP partners, Avenda Systems, is releasing a NAP client for the Linux operating system at Interop." (here)

"Microsoft Network Policy Server (NPS) brings a rich ecosystem of NAP health agents and will be able to interoperate with the Juniper Networks UAC solution in heterogeneous network environments. Microsoft NPS can either act as a policy server or be leveraged by the Juniper Infranet Controller for rich endpoint information. Microsoft is announcing that Windows Vista supports this protocol today and Windows Server 2008 and Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) will support it as well later this year." (here)

Now Microsoft claims that all references to Windows XP SP3 dropping by the end of 2007 were a mistake. The third service pack for Windows XP was initially planned for the second half of 2006. Microsoft then postponed XP SP3 to 2007, and once again to 2008. The Windows client team confirmed that indeed SP3 for Windows XP is coming in the second half of 2008 but failed to deliver additional details. However, Microsoft's top current priority is Windows Vista. The first service pack for Vista is unofficially scheduled for availability by the end of 2007. Microsoft has admitted that the data referencing Windows XP SP3 in the three press releases above is inaccurate.