The Official Overview of Windows XP Service Pack 3

"Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) includes all previously released Windows XP updates, including security updates and hotfixes. It also includes select out-of-band releases, and a small number of new enhancements, which do not significantly change customers’ experience with the operating system. Windows XP SP3 provides a new baseline for customers still deploying Windows XP. For customers with existing Windows XP installations, Windows XP SP3 fills gaps in the updates they might have missed—for example, by declining individual updates when using Windows
Update," reads an excerpt out of XP SP3's overview.



Despite the 2004 – 2008 gap that separates Service Pack 2 and Service Pack 3 releases, the latest major update for Windows XP doesn't even come close to its predecessor. SP3 is nothing more than a standard service pack that manages to add only a handful of functionalities, just crumbs from the Windows Vista feast, including: "Black Hole" Router Detection, Network Access Protection (NAP), CredSSP Security Service Provider, Enhanced security for Administrator and Service policy entries, Microsoft Cryptographic Module, and a revamped Windows Product Activation model.



The "Overview of Windows XP Service Pack 3" is available for download here.