PC makers take slow road to XP update
C|Net | at | by Mike
Microsoft on Monday issued the first update, or service pack, for the Windows XP operating system. But the update, available as a free download from Microsoft's Web site, may not appear on some new PCs until next year. The release of a first service pack is typically a watershed event for a new version of Windows, signaling that the initial shakedown is over and that the operating system is ready for primetime. Many businesses waited to upgrade to Windows 2000, for example, until Microsoft released the first update in July 2000, about five months after the operating system launched.
However, PC makers plan to be slow to add the Windows XP Service Pack 1 to new systems. PC makers say they are in no hurry to support the service pack because the OS was launched with few major bugs, an automatic update feature keeps users current with new fixes, and many businesses still favor Windows 2000 over XP.