What is the difference between Windows XP and Windows XP SP3?

Answer 1

full article and summary : http://www.windowsecurity.com/articles/Windows-XP-SP3-Security.html

* Stability updates: These updates impact on how the already stable XP runs increasing the availably and reliability of the operating system. * Performance updates: These updates improve XP performance and enhance interoperability and hardware compatibility. * Security Updates: These updates include previous security updates and new updates. * Out of band releases: These updates include some releases that Microsoft has developed like MMC 3.0 and core XML services 6.0. * Minor feature updates: Features like NAP have been added so that customers can now take advantage of Windows 2008 server. Support for WPA2 is also available as a separate download. Microsoft recommends Windows XP Service Pack 3 as the de facto standard for users running Windows XP. Service Pack 3 is the baseline update for customers still using Windows XP. Microsoft have elected for the latest version of internet explorer to not be installed with Service Pack 3. If IE7 or IE6 is detected during the installation respective updates and security patches are applied to match the correct version.

Answer 2

Windows xp service pack 3 is an updated package, which includes all previously released windows xp updates including security updates & hotfixes.It allows pc's with windows xp as operating system, to leverage some new windows server 2008 capabilities as network access protection(NAP).Microsoft has not added any significant functionality to windows xp sp3 .For example, it does not include Internet explorer 7 although it includes all the updates for internet explorer 6 & internet explorer 7.New functionality included in service pack 3 includes, 1.Black Hole router detection 2.Network access protection 3.credssp security service provider 4.Descriptive security options user interface.5. Enhanced security for Administrator & service policy entries 6.Microsoft cryptographic module.7.Windows product activation.

Answer 3

Windows XP and Service Packs cannot be compared because Windows XP is an Operating System (OS) while Service Packs (SP) are a condensed update package to the Operating System (OS). Each SP is assigned a number, with a greater number indicating the lastest version.

So Windows XP has:

SP1 Service Pack 1

SP2 Service Pack 2

SP3 Service Pack 3 The most recent update as of 2012.

Each then is known as an update to Windows XP.

Answer 4

The Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 contains an update to Microsoft Office XP that includes security enhancements as well as stability and performance improvements.