It is reported over at 4sysops.com that Windows XP SP3 RC2 is now available publicly via Windows Update.

In order to get SP3 to show up for you in Windows Update, you have to download and run this little EXE file which changes a few registry keys. After a little wait, you will see SP3 show up in Windows Update.

All in all, this service pack is going to be a yawner. Windows XP SP2 is already tried and true, and the changes in SP3 are going to be arcane things that most users will never use or care about. SP2 users might as well upgrade to SP3, but don’t expect anything too groundbreaking.

The Vista SP1 is going to be a much bigger deal, and let’s hope that it irons out enough issues with Vista to at least give that operating system a fighting chance. It might be used by many users, but it wasn’t exactly by their choice (it came on their systems) and many are complaining about it left and right.

Perhaps one day, Windows will be fun again.