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Microsoft today announced that a beta of Service Pack 3 (SP3) for Windows XP will be made available to MSDN and TechNet subscribers in mid-September. The content is as expected – a roll-up of previously released fixes, although there will be “a small number of new updates.” Availability is still 1H2008 which is roughly 4.5 years since SP2 was released. Then as if the pace wasn’t languorous enough, Microsoft lawyers stomped out AutoPatcher, the third party patch roll-up effort which tries to make up for Microsoft’s sloth.
Today, Microsoft’s Nick White took the wraps off Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista at the Vista team blog. In a nutshell, it is what you would expect from a service pack and a beta release will be available in a few weeks with final release tentatively scheduled in the first quarter of 2008. That release is aligned with Windows Server 2008 RTM which today was announced as slipping out of 2007 into 1Q2008. In more detail:
It’s no secret that while Microsoft has some incredibly lucrative businesses, the bounty has not been passed on to the shareholders due to an overlarge management’s insistence on dabbling in a variety of expensive projects that they aren’t managing to a payoff. The cure for that is obvious, but the mechanics of effecting such a change are less so. Today at ZDNet UK, Rupert Goodwins assesses the possibilities for an leveraged buyout (LBO) or a shareholder revolt:
Chalk up another one for Google as they announce a multi-year exclusive advertising deal with CNN.
