Microsoft has finally announced the release date for Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3). The update has now been released to manufacturing, and will be available on the web from the 29th of April. A Microsoft spokesperson told us that automatic distribution via Windows Update will "begin in early summer".

Unlike XP SP2, the new update is not expected to add any major new features to Windows XP - instead it contains all the previously available updates and "a number of small additions that should not significantly change the Windows XP experience", according to Microsoft.