Well, Microsoft finally got SP3 out the door for you stubborn Vista-resistant XP users, and we're dying to know how you like it. That's right, you. See, our resident guinea pig intern hasn't felt any performance improvement, we've received tips from people who have seen a speed bump, and problems have cropped up as well -- we've heard reports of sporadic reboots and crashes, some of them AMD-related. But hey, forget all of them... how has SP3 changed your life?

While Microsoft has seen it fit to keep XP around as its "relatively non-bloated OS" alternative to the Linux that has dominated this new category of "ultra low-cost PCs" (ULPCs), they're certainly not giving away the farm. Microsoft doesn't want this version of XP Home creeping into mainstream laptops and desktops, where it might compete with Vista sales and high-margin machines from PC manufacturers. To that end, Microsoft is setting the limits for ULPCs at 10.2-inch screens, 80GB of storage, 1GB of RAM, 1GHz processors (with some exceptions) and no touchscreens. The upshot is that licenses for XP will go for $26 in developing nations and $32 elsewhere. Too bad the XP faithful among us will need to try a bit harder to wrangle XP onto new machines of theirs that don't fit these narrow specifications.

HP's Mini-Note 2133 is due to get all-new Windows XP configurations this month, and it looks like early pricing details are starting to leak out. If the numbers are accurate, a base 1.2GHz rig with 1GB of RAM and a 120GB disk will run you $729, and bumping things up to 1.6GHz, 2GB of RAM and a 160GB disk will set you back $819. That's pretty steep -- but remember, early pricing info on the currently-available models was a tiny bit off, so these numbers could change when these hit sometime next week.

Attention XP'ers -- your wildest fantasies are coming to fruition. Word on the street is that Service Pack 3 is now available for download all over the World Wide Web. When we say "all over" what we really mean is via Windows Update and the Microsoft Download Center, though we doubt it will stay in one place for too long. Apparently, the new pack offers 1,100 hotfixes and patches, so maybe your obscure, cheapo soundcard will now function in stereo.

Update: Apparently due to a "glitch" in the latest SP, Microsoft has delayed the release of the update, now aiming for a May 2nd street date. Thanks commenters and tipsters, and no thanks to you, Microsoft.

Steve Ballmer kicked up a little dirt last week when he said that Microsoft could "wake up smarter" and keep selling XP after the June 30 cutoff date if customer feedback demanded it, but as you'd expect, the company is busily trying to "clarify" that statement by saying that while it always listens to customers, XP is definitely going to die on the 30th. Well, apart from the ultraportable exception that'll last until 2012 or so. And the backlog of licenses still in reseller's hands. Oh, and a little company called Dell, which, as rumored, is going to take advantage of a Vista licensing loophole that allows it to sell a copy of Vista but preload XP instead. Yep, that's the plan -- Dell's going to report a Vista sale to Microsoft, but deliver an XP box with Vista upgrade DVD to customers. (That sound you just heard was a million accountants sighing in appreciation.) The program will be available for Latitude, OptiPlex, Precision, Vostro, and XPS systems (some with a minor fee), and Dell says it'll keep going as long as Microsoft supports the "downgrade" license option, which could be forever. Looks like June 30 just got a lot less scary for XP fans, no?

Read - Microsoft clarification of Ballmer's comments
Read - Dell to keep selling XP

What do you know? The former OLPC head of software and content did indeed resign at least partially over NickNeg's growing fondness of Windows XP. In a recent soul-spilling interview with xconomy, Walter Bender made clear that he resigned his post at the non-profit due to the general de-emphasis of "radical projects like Sugar," the innovative XO user interface which Mr. Bender was unsurprisingly neck-deep in during his stay. Essentially, he felt as if the outfit had stopped trying to "be disruptive" and started "trying to make things comfortable for decision-makers," hence Walter darting out "to do his own thing." Needless to say, the lead developer of Sugar isn't satisfied with seeing his work forgotten, and while details have yet to be worked out, he is looking to "find a new central home for the community of educators and software developers who have been creating Sugar-compatible applications."

[Image courtesy of The New York Times]

Windows XP has a date with destiny scheduled for June 30, but it looks like the plucky OS just isn't ready to go: Ultraportable OEMs will be able to preload XP until "one year after the general availability of Windows 7," whenever that is, and now we're hearing reports that Dell's telling customers it'll sell XP on professional systems until 2012. The Dell thing is just a rumor for now, but what's Steve Ballmer doing telling reporters that although XP is EOL, "if customer feedback varies, we can always wake up smarter" and extend XP sales? Um, Steve? Customers have been feeding back like crazy and Microsoft has kind of ignored them, remember? Maybe it's time for a quick nap.

Update: That was pretty funny for a totally unintentional typo, wasn't it?

Read - CNET article quoting Ballmer
Read - Dell rumors

It's not nearly as big a deal as Vista SP1, but it looks like Windows XP SP3 will be out in just eight short days -- Microsoft just confirmed that it's been released to manufacturing, and that it'll be in Windows Update and the Microsoft Download Center on April 29th. No word on if OEMs and devs got access today like we'd heard, but it shouldn't be long now -- here's hoping that rumored 10 percent speed boost is for real.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

The recent shakeups at the top of the OLPC hierarchy have apparently claimed another victim, as OLPC News is reporting that Software and Content chief Walter Bender has just left the project. Rumor is that Nicholas Negroponte is going to transition the OLPC XO entirely to Windows XP to spur sales soon, and Bender is reportedly unhappy about that. What makes this all the more interesting is that when security director Ivan Krstić left the OLPC project last month, he specifically said he was unhappy that the restructuring no longer required him to work with Bender, and said that he could no longer "subscribe to the organization's new aims or structure in good faith." Looks like something's afoot at OLPC, and the old guard isn't happy about it. What say you, NickNeg?

Though we originally expected (read: hoped) that Microsoft would dish out Service Pack 3 for Windows XP late last month, it seems the deed may actually get done before May dawns. According to an "internal schedule" fetched over at Neowin, OEMs, volume license, Connect, MSDN and TechNet subscribers will have access to the update on April 21st, while most average joes / janes won't notice it until April 29th when it hits the Microsoft / Windows Update download center. For folks too busy carrying on to worry over which SP their XP is running, they could very well overlook the automatic update scheduled to land on June 10th. (Re)mark your calendars, won't you?

[Via InformationWeek]

India's HCL is certainly no stranger to low-cost laptops, and the company is now apparently looking to expand its budget-priced empire even further, with it recently announcing that it's teamed up with Microsoft to roll out what it claims to be the "world's cheapest Windows laptop." While the company isn't exactly saying as much, the new laptop, dubbed the MiLeap H, appears to be a revamped version of the company's MiLeap Y unit, with it boasting the same swiveling 7-inch touchscreen, an unspecified Intel processor and Intel 945 GU Express chipset, 1GB of RAM, a 30GB hard drive, an integrated 1.3 megapixel webcam, built-in WiFi and, of course, Windows XP Home for the OS. No word on a release date just yet, but those in India can expect to pay 17,000 Indian rupees (or about $425) for the laptop.

[Via TechWeb/Yahoo! News]

Sure, the picture on the purchase page shows the little guy running Xandros -- but read the fine print ya'll. That's right, the moment some of you have been waiting for has finally descended upon us like the enraged, ancient dragons of yore. The Windows XP equipped ASUS Eee PC is now available at Best Buy. For just $399.99, you can experience the totally okay performance that is this 7-inch master of destruction. Enjoy it now, but remember, those 9-inch models are just around the corner.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

We puzzled over Microsoft's cryptic statements at CeBIT that the Eee's "other requirements" would lead to an adjustment of the Windows 7 timeline, and it looks like our first guess was spot-on: Microsoft will be making Windows XP available for Eee-class ultraportables until 2010, and possibly later. Demand for XP on devices like the Eee and Intel's Classmate machines has prompted MS to reconsider axing XP entirely this June: the company will now sell XP Home through at least June 2010, and for one year after the release of Windows 7 -- which means sales of XP could stretch into 2012. There's no word on if the build of XP Home targeted at the ultraportable laptop set will be different from regular XP builds, but we doubt there'll be many changes -- it'll be awfully sad if people are still clamoring for XP more than a decade after its initial release, though.

[Thanks, JP]

So now that the nine-inch Eee is officially available with Windows XP pre-installed, people are wondering the obvious -- why XP and not Vista, since XP is being discontinued in June and Vista can kinda-sorta be made to run on an Eee? The answer, direct from Microsoft, is both obvious and a little surprising: Given the Eee's "other requirements," Asus and Microsoft "couldn't go the Vista route," presumably because the Eee doesn't really have the horsepower for it. Sure, but what caught our interest was that Microsoft is "in close discussions with Asus [regarding] how to take that forward... in regards to the Windows 7 Europe timeframe." Windows 7, you'll recall, has that lean new kernel, which would presumably make building a stripped-down version specifically for Eee-class machines easier -- but the last we heard, Windows 7 wasn't due until at least mid-2009 (and possibly not until 2011), so either Microsoft is planning to continue shipping XP after June or Windows 7 is coming much earlier than we thought. Our money is on XP continuing to soldier on, but here's hoping.

[Thanks, Omar]