Microsoft has released a white paper on Windows XP SP3, which can be downloaded from the Microsoft download center.

Windows XP Service Pack 3 Overview

I really try to avoid copying and pasting content from other sources whenever possible, but in this case I don’t think I could have said it any better. Whilst you could argue a Mozilla developer commenting on Internet Explorer is obviously biased, but I think he cares about Internet Explorer as much as any Microsoft enthusiast would and shares the same doubts. I however have used a different picture to illustrate the point. Asa Dotzler says,

Dean, over at the IEBlog, introduces the world to the name of the next IE release, “Internet Explorer 8″ and not much else.

He closes with “please don’t mistake silence for inaction.”

I don’t think people were mistaking silence for inaction, Dean, and talking down to them like that does your efforts no good service.

You all shipped IE 7 more than a year ago and presumably wrapped up major development on it 3 to 6 months before that, so I’ve got no doubt you all have been working on IE 8 for at least a year and a half. Your IE blog audience can figure that out too.

It’s not the lack of action that people are

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Better late than never is overstated, what took so long?

A preview version of exclusive Yahoo Messenger for Windows Vista is finally available today after almost 12 months of radio silence. Hard to believe this application was announced all the way back in January at CES 2007. During the same amount of time, Microsoft has delivered five versions (3 beta, 2 final) of Windows Live Messenger.

However above all, the new Yahoo Messenger is possibly the first real mainstream application to take advantage of Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) and a number of Vista APIs for which I salute them for adopting new technology.

Comparing this preview release to the original conceptual design by Frog Design shows a number of subtle interface modifications but also a major disappointment.

Changes to the interface include the application windows are now encapsulated inside Windows Aero Glass frames. On one hand, this satisfies Microsoft’s Vista user experience guidelines which suggests all windows use the standard frame, but on the other seem rather quirky because the application has two harshly different styles of transparency.

The major disappointment is the lack of voice, video and sharing capabilities which were widely

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