0ink! » Guaranteed to contain absolutely zero ink!

I saw the little yellow icon in the system tray the other day signifying a system update of some kind. As it turned out, SP3 for Windows XP had arrived. I thought, “Cool, maybe a couple of improvements and a speedier machine”. I proceeded to wait for the download to complete, then initiated the installation process.

I don’t know what made me hit the cancel button. Maybe it was the fact that it if anything should go wrong with this major update, all my precious files and settings will be gone. Or maybe there was a part of my mind that kept visualising the Blue Screen of Death. Or maybe I still remember that sinking feeling in my stomach from the last time.

Whatever the reason may have been, I left that little yellow icon sitting there waiting patiently in the tray. Meanwhile, I planned to read a few reviews to see how the update went for everyone else.

I wasn’t in a hurry, so it took me a while getting round to reading the reviews. I guess it was a good thing too, because it gave the “beta testers” a bit of time to properly assess the situation. So, what did they have to say about it all?

Do not install Service Pack 3!

The general consensus was that the system became slow, unstable and in some cases unresponsive. It seemed there was a lot of grief to be had by many who took the SP3 path. You know the situation is dire when there are reports of that Blue Screen of Death.

There was not one positive review. OK, maybe there was one…

downloaded the xpsp3, and wow, i mean wow, it hauls sweet digital blood thru and thru. faster, smoother, almost intuitive, it knows what i’m going do kinda. just love that microsoft group, they have placed the data at our finger tips. what a blessing. sorry, so many are having trouble. i run multiple systems from dos3.1 to dos6.o to windows3.0 to windows95,98,98se,win2kpro,xp prem, xp pro, vista ultimate, and a variety of mac os’s, iphones, and palm’s everything is tied together working fine. - guest

I’m not sure if he used rope or twine, but I think I will let that little yellow icon sit in my system tray a little bit longer.

Should you be running Windows XP and still keen on Service Pack 3, here are the reviews.