Windows XP Service Pack 3 RTM is Out!

Microsoft's Chris Keroack posted the news in the TechNet Forums:

Today we are happy to announce that Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) has released to manufacturing (RTM). Windows XP SP3 bits are now working their way through our manufacturing channels to be available to OEM and Enterprise customers.

We are also in the final stages of preparing for release to the web (i.e. you!) on April 29th, via Windows Update and the Microsoft Download Center. Online documentation for Windows XP SP3, such as Microsoft Knowledge Base articles and the Microsoft TechNet Windows XP TechCenter, will be updated then. For customers who use Windows XP at home, Windows XP SP3 Automatic Update distribution for users at home will begin in early summer.

Thanks to everyone here who installed the public betas -- you not only gave us detailed feedback but also helped each other out with timely troubleshooting. Through the beta program we found several important issues and were able to confirm some essential fixes. We couldn’t have done this without you.

We will still be monitoring this forum during the next few weeks in case you have more feedback about the release of Windows XP SP3.

Lucky and Flo are now in US

After being deployed in Malaysia, bootleg busting dogs Lucky and Flo have come the United States. So are their days of sniffing out plastic discs over? Will they now enjoy a doggie vacation in a dog spa? Hardly.

A recent bust in the Queens district of New York saw the seizure of "thousands" of pirated DVDs from three retail outlets from the Jamaica section of Queens. Operators of these operations were also arrested.

District Attorney Brown said, "For the first time in the United States, specially trained DVD sniffing dogs have actively participated in a criminal investigation aimed at combating DVD piracy. The dogs passed with flying colors by successfully ferreting out hidden contraband at a number of locations. Man's best friend has become a DVD counterfeiter's worst nightmare as we now welcome this latest weapon into our law enforcement anti-piracy arsenal."

"The MPAA has a multi-pronged approach to fighting piracy, including public outreach and enforcement. And since last year we've added two more very talented crime fighters to our arsenal, Lucky and Flo, the world's first DVD-sniffing canines," said John Malcolm, Executive VP and Director of Worldwide Anti-Piracy Operations for the MPAA.

"Lucky and Flo are in New York to help raise awareness about the pervasiveness of film theft and about the dangerous nature of many of the criminal syndicates that engage it," continued Mr. Malcolm. "I commend the Queens District Attorney for his efforts to fight film piracy in his jurisdiction and for utilizing these amazing pups in yesterday's raid. We are pleased and proud to assist him in his ongoing efforts to combat this pernicious crime that puts money into the hands of serious criminals and deprives creative artists of their right to make an honest living creating works of movie magic that we all enjoy."

The three defendants are currently being charged with second-degree trademark counterfeiting and first degree failure to disclose the origins of a recording. The maximum sentence for these actions by the defendants is 4 years in prison.

Source: Slyck.com

AMD Talks Octal-Core Opterons

New eight-core "Sandtiger" set for 2009 on third-generation Opteron platformAMD previewed its third-generation Opteron platform during the company’s Technology Analyst.

The third-generation AMD Opteron platform is set for a 2009 debut with a new Sandtiger-core processor. AMD’s current Socket 1207 platform is the Opteron’s second-generation platform and designed to accommodate Opteron revision F, Barcelona and the 45nm die-shrink Shanghai processors.

Sandtiger ups the core ante with eight-cores. AMD will manufacture the octal-core Sandtiger on a 45nm fabrication process. Sandtiger introduces HyperTransport 3.0, or HT3, to AMD’s server and workstation platforms. The processor will have four HyperTransport links with a new Direct Connect 2 infrastructure.

Sandtiger will also support DDR3 memory. The third-generation AMD Opteron platform will be the first platform to support G3 Memory Extender, or G3MX, technology for larger memory capacities. The platform also supports PCI Express 2.0.

New server and workstation chipsets will accommodate the new platform. AMD makes no mention on socket compatibility of the third-generation Opteron platform, but AMD’s track record shows socket changes with a new platform.

Before Sandtiger, AMD has Shanghai up its sleeves. Shanghai will be the 45nm shrink of Barcelona. AMD has Shanghai on the roadmap for a 2008 launch to replace Barcelona. Shanghai will drop into existing second-generation AMD Opteron platforms.

Shanghai features minor improvements such as a 6MB L3 cache and IPC improvements. The core will continue to have 512KB of L2 cache per core with three HT1 links. Registered DDR2 memory continues to be the memory of choice for Shanghai.

Expect AMD to unveil its third-generation AMD Opteron platform with G3MX technology and Sandtiger core in 2009 and Shanghai around the second half of 2008.

Sources: DailyTech.com