Whats the difference between the 3?

Question

Windows XP Service Pack 1

Windows XP Service Pack 2

Windows XP Service Pack 3

My computer just randomly installed Windows XP Service Pack 3 today. But what's the difference? Please use plain English. hehe...

Answer 1

Service pack 3 is better than 2 and 1. It just offers you more windows stuff. You probably wont notice any differences, but it isnt a bad thing

Answer 2

Microsoft regularly puts out updates for your computer to fix bugs, make things work better, etc.  Every now and then, they pack all the ones that have come out so far into a Service Pack.  They give it a number.  When they do that again, it's everything since the beginning before they made the first Service Pack.

You should always keep your computer up-to-date because one thing the updates are for is to fix "holes" (vulnerabilities) in the software that people have found that let them give you viruses.

As to which is better, 98 or XP, I regularly use 98SE which I hear is better than 98 was and I also use 2000 Pro and XP Pro.  They both have their merits.  98SE is less needy of resources which is good for older machines and also not many viruses are being made for it anymore which makes it a bit safer sometimes for people just starting out in computers - you can set up their computer, update it, put security software on it and set the security software to update and then pretty much sit back and leave them be.  On the other hand, if a program crashes in XP, it's much less likely to force you to have to restart the computer like 98SE, you should only have to close that program.  XP is also more secure if it's set up properly but because so many viruses are still being written for it, I find a higher percentage of XP users than 98SE users need help.  The XP firewall shouldn't be relied on - it doesn't hide your computer on the internet like most 3rd party ones and that makes you less secure - my 98SE with a 3rd party firewall is MUCH safer than XP with the XP firewall because it can't be seen.  XP Home has Simple File Sharing and you can't turn that off, that also makes you more vulnerable.  On the other hand, 98SE never really figured out what security is about!!

Answer 3

Service Pack 3 incorporates everything that was in SP1 and SP2 plus a heap of other stuff. It's the only one you need.

XP is a better operating system than Windows 98, but it should have SP3 rather than either of the outdated SPs. It does use more system resources than W98 though. You need at least 256MB of RAM and a Pentium 4 or high end Pentium 3 processor to get the best out of it.

Answer 4

the higher the service pack number the more security settings and features