How many people still have SP2 on XP?

I do because my computer and SP3 do not get along. I heard that media center laptops won't work with it and I have not gotten it since. How important is SP3? I heard its basically SP1 and SP2 put together.

 

I have SP2.

SP3 supposedly includes SP2 plus all (??) updates, and a few other things that seemed unnecessary. (black hole support for routers ??)

SP2 works fine.

I wondered about any backdoors present in SP3.

 

As Fly says SP3 contains very little in the way of new functionality,it's more about including the updates since SP2,they didn't even include IE7 or WMP11.Having installed it on a lot of systems it definitely causes some stability issues,mostly on notebooks in my experience.If you're running an updated SP2 and it ain't broke,no need to fix it.

The only thing would be when MS no longer supports it for hotfixes,I'm not sure what their timetable is though.

 

I had to revert a couple of clients PCs back to SP2. SP3 broke several apps on their PCs, one of which was SSM free. Don't remember what the others were. Been too long.

 

I still use SP2.

 

And in 2014, we'll have things we can't even imagine today. We'll laugh at this thread. Thanks for that first link - very interesting.

 

I'm still running SP-2 as well.
I manage updates selectively and select only those I need- no automatic downloads.

SP-3 offers nothing I need and installs some things I don't need, such as updates/hotfixes for Outlook Express and Windows Messenger.
I keep both of those disabled on my computer.

 

lol if after all these years we cant get 64bit mainstream software support, no chance in hell will that work very well, thers gunna be like nothing compatible...

 

Six years from now operating systems themselves may be a thing of the past - not to mention the service packs. I think of the progress in just ten years, since 1999, and it boggles the mind. I think most of us were still using 56k modems at home (if you had upgraded!) and, putting things in perspective, we were just a few years out of the Microsoft BOB experiment.

 

SP2 Plus here. (plus is the user selected components used in RyanVMs update packs plus a few I chose to use)

Sul.

 

SP2 here, never saw the need for SP3

 

+1. Since there were no real security benefits I never saw any point in taking a chance with SP3 install. I'd have to remove security software etc. It'd be too much trouble.

Next time when I do clean install I will go to SP3.

 

well im not.
ive done tons of service pack 3 installs and all have been successful.
i didnt even bother to uninstall security software before eiether.

 

From what I could gather SP2 will be retired in July 2010,with only SP3 supported until 2014,unless Microsoft have changed their stance on this?

http://www.ditii.com/2008/05/20/countdown-to-windows-xp-sp2-expiry-begins/

 

I might still have a few oddball clients who have computers still on SP2, but for the most part...hundreds 'n hundreds of SP3 installs out there, I don't recall a single issue with one. Very mixed environments too, as well as mixtures of software, LOB apps, hardware, peripherals, etc.

 

Same here

 

If you ever have seen SP3 on the same system like SP2 you probably never want to go back to SP2 because SP3 is way snappier. At least in my experience SP3 is a wonderful turboboost you can get for free. Felt (!) like having 5-10 % faster reacting OS for me. -> Really. No kidding. - OT: If this isn't enough get fast SSD replacing your system drive because this is even more fun!

p.s.: At one occasion at the very beginning I lost my internet connectivity due to SP3 I guess but it was no problem somehow to fix that and regarding all other installs on many different systems: no single problem and just joy! In fact I did fall in love with XP SP3

 

Interesting. SP3 has caused more issues on my computer and some others I know of. Many use SP3 with no problems, but I prefer SP2 because it is more stable for me and there are a few changes in SP3 I did not like.

I have some updates that are from SP3, just not SP3 itself.

Sul.

 

SP2 here as well. Didnt see anything I needed from SP3

 

I interpreted 'SP2 will no longer be supported after July 2010' meaning that SP2 as such will no longer be supported, but patches will be released just as for SP3. Am I correct ?