New Windows XP Service Pack Not Until 2007

According to Microsoft they have a plan to release a Service Pack 3 for Windows XP Home and Professional editions in the last half of 2007. This date being much later than most Microsoft enthuesists expected. Officials in Microsoft are keeping a low profile on the feature list and the bugs to be fixed in the SP3.

According to TheHotfix.net the next Pack will have 249 hotfixes thus far. Back in Septemeber an official for Microsoft said the pack will support IE7. Also when confronted about the late date, Microsoft made it clear that they are fully concentrating on Vista. Allchin stated they will get "more value" from Vista than advance completing SP3.

Sources stated that Microsoft was ending XP Home support at the end of 2006, but after much public scrutiny that date has been extened by 2 years.

However Windows 98, 98SE, and ME will no longer be supported after June 30th of this year. Microsoft's website states "After this date, Microsoft will no longer provide any incident support options or security updates."