Windows XP Service Pack 3 leaked

Some decisions that Microsoft makes are hard to understand, at least for me. Take the monthly patch days that provide security updates to various Microsoft operating systems and applications. Sometimes those patches are known weeks before they are released and that makes me wonder why it takes so long to release them. If Microsoft knows about security vulnerabilities the chance that criminals know them is at least feasible.

The same can be said for Windows XP Service Pack 3. Instead of distributing it to everyone at once Microsoft decided to supply it to users and manufacturers over the course of weeks. Is there any reason why this is done that way ? Interestingly though “pirates” get those releases more often than not earlier than other users. Why do pirates come first most of the times ?

Windows XP Service Pack 3 has been leaked and is now available on various Bittorrent websites and surely on ftps and other P2P networks as well. Why is it that honest users always seem to be at the end of the chain ? One could argue that companies can distribute their products any way they want and while this is surely right it will disappoint at least some of their customers.

Microsoft is releasing Service Pack 3 for Windows XP on April 29th to all customers.