Those who are still hanging onto Windows XP (32-bit) will be heartened to
know that the latest release candidate for the operating system's third service
pack can be downloaed
directly from Microsoft. The release candidate gives users a chance to
sample the improvements and features of the upcoming service pack, although it's
obviously still a pre-release version and Microsoft advises users to try it in a
test environment and to back up their files first. To install the service pack,
folks need only to
download the script available on this download page. The script will edit a
key in the Windows registry in order to mark a system as a valid target for SP3
RC2, allowing its owner to install the software through Windows Update like any
other patch. The final version of SP3 is scheduled to come out some time before
the middle of this year. It's expected to bring a few major changes, including
higher performance, a new Windows Product Activation model that will let users
install the OS without having to enter a product key, Network Access Protection
functionality back-ported from Windows Vista, and a new Microsoft Kernel Mode
Cryptographic Module.