Late last week, Microsoft posted an interesting document outlining its release plans for various Windows version service packs, prompting reports that Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), originally due late this year, was being delayed until late 2004. That's because the page lists "Q3 2004" as the XP SP2 release date. A little fact checking goes a long way, however, and after conferring with various Microsoft representatives, WinInformant confirmed that the Q3 2004 date is, indeed a typo. That's the good news. The bad news is that the service pack is still shipping a lot later than originally expected: It won't be out until the first half of 2004.



"Unfortunately, that Web site is incorrect," a Microsoft representative told Paul Thurrott Monday. "Windows XP Service Pack 2 will actually ship by mid-2004, and we announced this date at the annual Financial Analysts Meeting last month." Indeed, Microsoft group vice president Jim Allchin noted that SP2 would ship by mid-2004 at the meeting. "We have Service Pack 2 for Windows XP coming out this fiscal year," he said. "[It will] not [include new] features, but there will be a few things that we're adding to that." Because Microsoft's fiscal year runs from July 1, 2003 to June 30, 2004, "fiscal 2004" refers to that time frame and not calendar year 2004. That schedule, he has been told, is still correct. The Microsoft representative also said that XP SP2 would include no major new features but would instead consist of all the bug and security fixes Microsoft released since XP was issued in October 2001. That fact makes the schedule nonsensical, however. If XP SP2 is just updates, it should ship immediately, not in six months; XP SP1 shipped almost a year ago. Products such as Windows XP Media Center Edition "V2," Windows XP Tablet PC Edition "V2," and Windows Powered Smart Displays "V2," all due by the end of calendar year 2003, are not reliant on XP SP2, according to the representative.