Though it's not clear what kind of updates it would even contain, Microsoft told CNet that a third Service Pack for Windows XP will not arrive until the second half of 2007. This would be well after the release of Windows Vista, which is expected to ship in the second half of this year.

A little unexpected gift from Microsoft this evening, DirectX9 has shown up and is available for download from the official website through one of those fun web download interface apps. Feel free to share any benchmark speed bumps in 3DMark or whatever games you're playing, results seem to vary pretty wildly so far. Thanks 3DChipset

update: It seems that MS has pulled the file for now, but ya never know it may show up again in a few hours, as things like this tend to happen.

..for more than $1 billion. Sun is saying Microsoft has made Windows XP incompatible with Java, which is "extensive anticompetitive conduct". The company now wants to force Microsoft to include Java with XP and Internet Explorer. Thanks Captain Cobra. Update: More is up at CNet (thanks TheOccifer). CNet's article contains this little gem

"It is ironic that we spent three years in litigation with Sun over their attempt to stop us from shipping Java in Windows, and now they are complaining that we are not shipping it by default in Windows XP," said Jim Cullinan, Windows XP lead product manager.

CNet is reporting about the first Windows XP service pack Microsoft is working on. This won't just include some fixes, but also offer "significant technology enhancements". Service Pack 1 won't be out until the third quarter of this year though.

CNet is reporting that Bill Gates will be showing a new Windows XP interface at CES this week, called Freestyle. This interface is intended to close the gap between PCs and entertainment systems, meaning remote control access to launching videos, playing music, access photos, watching DVDs and other things like that. No release date has been set for this Freestyle interface but Hewlett-Packard, NEC, and Samsung plan to develop products based on it.

If you, like me, are using Windows XP but not MSN Messenger and can't get rid of the program even after telling it not to start with Windows, The Inquirer now explains how to get rid of it. It involves some editing of an .INF file which is easy enough. Thanks the archvile.

Here's a really interesting/informative article about WindowsXP and bandwidth reserving etc. Basically you're losing out on about 20% of your bandwidth in some cases but there's some XP settings you can play with.Thanks Nlieber

Apparently the "soft" early sales of WindowsXP were not soft at all. Microsoft has announced 7 million copies sold in the first two weeks of WindowsXP. Yow. This marks the "most successful software launch ever" for the company.

According to The Inquirer, Microsoft has admitted that under certain circumstances, the repairing, reinstalling or upgrading of Windows XP may lead to data loss on your hard drive. Though some of this data might be on a backup that XP makes, there could still be data lost that can't be retreived. There's no word on an upcoming fix.

Microsoft is in need of some better collaboration for their .NET project to be successful. Pretty interesting piece which also touches on the whole trusting Microsoft thing. People do that?

The guys at Tech-Report have put together an excellent little article comparing performance benchmarks of Windows XP , 2K and ME. Looks like XP and 2K are about the same in performance, contrary to earlier reports.

For those of you who picked up WindowsXP, make sure and check out windowsupdate.microsoft.com and grab all the patches that have already been released. Notables being a new SBLive! driver and a security update. update: There are eve newer SBLive! drivers at Soundblaster.com

They can not defeat me! A lot of people probably remember that huge WindowsXP is going to kill the internet! Hype that security expert guy was claiming. Looks like his own tools though say XP is secure. I tend to have my doubts about his security knowledge though.. I stole his name and he still has no idea!

Today is the big WindowsXP launch day from Microsoft. Here's the official PR announcing it etc. You should be able to find copies of the new OS from Microsoft on shelves all over the place, super exciting! A pretty strong recommendation for upgrading from Windows 98 to XP, although Windows2000 users can just take your sweet time as there doesnt appear to be a heck of a lot of reason to upgrade just yet. There are reviews all over the place, just load up your typical tech websites ZD , CNET etc. Most share the same opinion we've been seeing for a while, the registration stuff is annoying and Microsoft requires that you name your firstborn child after them along with purchase. Seems reasonable!

NeoWin has the final Powertoys for Windows XP (official release is in 3 days). This comes with such utilities as TweakUI, Virtual Desktop Manager, Phototoys and more. It's a small 690kb download.

For those of you who bought those new computers to get a hold of XP the CIAC is advising against using the MS error reporting tool that pops up if/when a program you have running crashes in XP. They say it reveals sensitive data. Thanks Captain Cobra

GamePC has put WindowsXP through a few tests to check if the OS is worth bothering with. I'd say no question if you're using Windows98, but hardly worth it if you're using Windows2000.

Gamespy has an article about Microsoft's latest OS Windows XP and how well it works with games. Half-Life, Quake 2 and 3, Unreal Tournament, Deus Ex, System Shock 2, Operation Flashpoint, Diablo 2, Red Faction, Gothic and Wolfenstein all get tested for compatability.

That glorious day where Microsoft bestows upon us their latest and greatest innovations on how to make the internet faster and our lives more efficient is almost here. WindowsXP will be showing up in both desktop and laptop machines being sold by pretty much all of the major brands.

Officially, Windows XP won't debut until Oct. 25, but Microsoft is permitting PC makers to sell computers with the new OS on Monday. Initially, Microsoft instructed PC makers to soft-pedal the prelaunch. But subtlety appears to be falling by the wayside. And roughly 30 days after the Oct. 25 release, Windows XP will become the near-exclusive OS for consumer computers, according to sources in the PC industry.

I've been meaning to give XP a shot, a friend at MS was kind enough to get beta2 sent out my way right around time all hell broke loose and I was in the middle of moving so never got to check it out. Doh.

Considering a big portion of the readership here works in offices and the IT department etc, this should excite you guys. MS has a new licensing agreement that goes live on October 1st. The new deal causes office customers who buy in bulk to pay as much as 107% more for the software.

By eliminating certain options under the new licensing program, some technology managers contend they no longer have the choice to upgrade when they want. Instead, they feel railroaded into buying expensive maintenance contracts from Microsoft. Bill Henningsgaard, Microsoft's vice president of worldwide licensing and pricing, defended the changes. "I think customers have choice. They had choice before, and they have choice going forward."
[snip]
Bailey said the Oct. 1 deadline to switch to the new licensing plans is "way too short for our company given the economic downturn...We were never given time to budget properly. Microsoft would not sit still if one of its vendors did that to them. Why are they doing it to us?"

Of course it's the regular feeding frenzy of how awful and evil Microsoft is. Seems kind of poopy they would make such a hugely dramatic change in their pricing structure with such little notice. Especially peachy timing considering the current trend of the economy.

update Jack - This article title contains an unlicensed use of my name. $170 per client license!