Fans of the Windows XP operating system will have to wait for the latest — and possibly last — service pack update. Microsoft said Tuesday that further release of Service Pack 3, which had been made available through Windows Update and Microsoft Download Center the same day, was being delayed considering of a recently revealed problem.

Microsoft cited a “compatibility issue” within SP3 and the Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System for small and midsize businesses.

‘Best Possible Experience’

In a statement distributed to news outlets, Microsoft said it had “decided to delay releasing Windows XP SP3 to Windows Update and Microsoft Download Center” so that it could construct certain “customers have the best possible experience.”

Microsoft said the delay will let it put up a filter, preventing XP SP3 and Windows Vista SP1, which additionally has issues with Microsoft Dynamics RMS, from being downloaded to users with Dynamics. A fix for the Dynamics incompatibility is reportedly in the

The SP3 update includes a variety of bug fixes and minor enhancements to XP. Several Vista features are in SP3, including Network Access Protection, “black hole” router detection, the Microsoft Kernel Cryptographic Module, and other enhancements. Each successive service pack plus includes all previous fixes.

The supported operating systems include Windows XP, Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Home Edition N, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional Edition, Windows XP Professional N, Windows XP Service Pack 1, Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows XP Starter Edition, and Windows XP Tablet PC Edition. The download size, depending on selected components, is amidst 428KB and one megabyte.

XP’s Planned Demise

Laura DiDio, an analyst with industry research firm Yankee Group, said there’s no evidence that Microsoft rushed the new service pack into release without adequate analyzing. She pointed out that software can have bugs even when it’s been adequately…

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