Windows XP Update Nearly Out

More than 15,000 beta testers are playing with Microsoft's SP3 update.

Microsoft says that the update to the six-year-old operating system is due out in final form in the first half of next year. It plans to release a public test version of the service pack, but it has not come up with a date yet.

The release was expected in 2006, but was pushed out in favour of Vista work. The update is focused largely on things such as bug fixes and performance improvements rather than new features.

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