Windows XP SP3 available now

It's been a long and winding road, but we've finally arrived: Today Microsoft released Windows XP SP3 via its website, the last hurrah for the ill-fated OS. The final service pack contains some 1,100 hotfixes and patches, and even introduces a few new features to the 7-year-old operating system. While it's available now via Microsoft's website and Windows Update, it won't make its way out via Automatic Update until "early summer." The download weighs in at 316MB and appears to be a fairly painless install, based on the early reports we're hearing.

For more on XP SP3:
- see this DailyTech article
- and click here to download the service pack