Happy with it, my machine had become quite sluggish and looked as if I would have to reinstall XP but I installed SP 3 a few months ago and the sluggishness went away and has operated well since. It may be a bit quicker but what has caused it I don't know. I installed SP 3 on 2 other computers with no problems.
Mick

For those of us with machines that are happily cranking along with SP2, is there any benefit to the upgrade?

Mike

did so months ago - posted to that effect too.

solid, and with some increase in speed - not much, but certain actions are zippier; explorer, m$ progs seem to load quicker....

i know, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. but when i installed i was about to do a full reinstall of xp anyway....

leslie

http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?ForumID=4&MessageID=571090

Thanks leslie but I think I'll wait for awhile.
It's spring here and I'd rather be out in the sunshine than inside fighting with a computer :-)
Besides, I have a couple of projects on the machine that are due soon that I don't want to somehow mess up.

Mike

morning mike,

well, as you can well imagine, it's getting cold here, hence my perusal and replies in the various forums... to cold to go out and do anything else.

would never dream of installing any m$ update or sp in the middle of a project. once bitten twice shy. but i always have at lease 2 acronis bk-ups on hand, one with the latest working updates, and an older one minus them. do this every time i update or install a new program - this way if i do discover something nasty in the woodshed a week or so later, i can always get rid of it.

example being uninstalling boris fx8 - not only did it uninstall 8, it also took all my fx and media generators from vegas. rather than bother with reinstalling vegas, simple 3 minute wait while acronis restored c: drive....

anyway, enough of this, the sun's just popped out, bye....

leslie

For those of us with machines that are happily cranking along with SP2, is there any benefit to the upgrade?

When you mean..."cranking along" are you saying you are SP2 but fully updated? No real reason to apply the update in that case....but if/when it comes time for an OS refresh - a integrated disc with SP3 baked right in...will ensure one does not have to endure about an hour 's worth of Windows Update foolishness.

SP3 is just a nice way to collect 4 years worth of updates and be able to apply them in a single uniform stroke.

Cheers!

VP

I still run SP1 on most computers (although obviously if a computer comes with later versions of XP, I just run that). Automatic updates are turned off on all computers and anti-virus software completely removed. The more I deal with client computers that are constantly updating themselves and thrashing around because of anti-virus software, the more I am convinced that this stuff is REALLY bad.

As most others are asking, exactly what is in SP3 for me??

As most others are asking, exactly what is in SP3 for me??

Nothing earth shattering. Just 4 years worth of updates in one place. And some new things...but all of them at a level where no normal user would ever notice.

For the single DAW type user - no big deal but for corporations - a one-stop all integrated version that gets a workstation right up to date immediately after the OS is installed is a very very nice present.

For me - I rebuild every 6 months anyway - so this is a brand new integrated OS disc that has everything up to date. Plus it's the ultimate stopgap to ensure Vista never gets installed.

VP

is it REALLY just the updates for the past for years? If it is then there's no reason to MS to put it on auto-update. I was always under the impression that the SP's includes other stuff not in updates. That's why software wants SP version X for XP & 2k. That's why just using auto-update doesn't count & still says you need SP X.

I've kept XPsp1 on my computers for a long time. Finally there was something I wanted to install (can't remember what) that just INSISTED on sp2; fine. Under sp2, I don't see much of a difference with anything. Oh, the Device Manger on the System Properties window is in a different location, and, let's see, some of the wireless network windows are different,as is the icon in the System Tray.

But there's nothing earth-shattering. Until something I really need insists on sp3, I'm staying put.

There's a big difference between the 'value/weight' of the Service Packs,...

SP1 was 'just an update'
.
SP2 was more or less a new operating system, with such a major change to the kernel and internals. Big difference from pre-SP2 code-wise.

SP3 is not a big thing - just a rolll-up of earlier stuff, - kond of 'just an update' again. And better security. Certainly nothing earth-shattering

For those of us with machines that are happily cranking along with SP2, is there any benefit to the upgrade?
============
Think of the prestige!

On the back of DVD jacket the following line will bring untold numbers of customers running to get your business:

THIS VIDEO WAS EDITED WITH VEGAS PRO 8 AND WINDOWS XP SERVICE PACK 3

John

There must be something else in SP3 - Apple just sent out an update 2.1 for Boot Camp (using Windows on Mac's i.e. Mac Pros with 2 x quad Xeons):
"Important: Installation of Boot Camp 2.1 is required before installing Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3)"

If you want to know what's in SP3 you can read this PDF file from Microsoft:

Overview of Windows XP Service Pack 3.pdf

It summarizes the service pack contents as:

What Is In Service Pack 3 Windows XP

SP3 includes all previously released Windows XP updates, including security updates and hotfixes, and select out-of-band releases. Windows XP SP2 was released in August 2004. Since then, Microsoft has released hundreds of updates. Windows XP SP3 includes all of these updates.

It then goes on to list each additional enhancement and what it is for.

~jr

"Microsoft is not adding significant Windows Vista functionality to Windows XP through SP3."

LOL!!!

*What* Vista functionality ??

Vista is a colossal dud - I consider switching to XP as an *Upgrade* from Vista.

"Vista is a colossal dud"

Have you ever actually used it?

"Have you ever actually used it?"

Yes, sad to say. I have two identical laptops with Centrino Core 2 Duo processors, 2Gb RAM, and 120Gb HDD. The only difference is that one has XP-pro and the other has Vista-business.

I cannot find a single reason, not one, that would make me want to downgrade all of my other computers to Vista. All that MS has done is dumb down the UI to the lowest common denominator of users - AOL customers.

Without any reservation, any program that I run on both machines always runs faster on the XP computer.

After applying a lot of the tweaks described in the following link, I have gotten Vista64 to render my rendertest-hdv.veg file a couple of seconds faster than in WinXP on my Quad-core machine.

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2238

This decision reminds me of the movie Dirty Harry (1971):


Harry Callahan to the bank robber who was thinking of reaching for a gun while Callahan was pointing a .44 Magnum at him:

I know what you're thinkin' punk. You're thinkin' "Did he fire six shots or only five?" Well, to tell you the truth, I forgot myself in all this excitement. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself a question:

John

sp3 causes data corruption

So, Microsoft is putting the breaks on releasing Vista sp1 as an auto update.

j razz

Without any reservation, any program that I run on both machines always runs faster on the XP computer.Very useful, well-controlled experiment. Thanks for the data, Steve.

Well I for one like Vista better than XP. Especially the interface tweaks and improvements of which there are probably hundreds. And no I"m not talking about the silly Aero 3D task switcher.

It kind of reminds me of when I worked in construction and we switched from regular hammers to gas powered nail guns. Sure the things weighed about 5 lbs more, cost more for the gas and nail strips, stunk to high heaven and tried to pull your pants down when hooked on your belt. But man we sure could drive a bunch more nails in the same amount of time.

Vista is the same way. Sure it may require more computing muscle and a slight change in techniques (like using start search instead of micro-managing the start menu), but once you get things going, they go more smoothly in Vista than they did in XP.

But I pick up things quickly so maybe it's all just me.