The PC world has been eagerly waiting for the final release of Window XP, Service
Pack 3 (SP3). However, Mac users who plan to install it in their virtualization
environment should know that Microsoft has tested the service pack under those
conditions as well. Planning for the upgrade, however, is little different than
installing on the raw hardware.
Microsoft told TMO that the new service pack has in fact been tested in
various virtualization environments, so users of Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion
shouldnit need to worry about that. This reporter installed it and found that the only gotcha was the need to stop and restart the VM after installation.
On Wednesday, Greg Keizer at Computerworld recommended that users should do some
planning: back up everything, possibly disable anti-virus software and refer
to Microsoftis prerequisite list. That list and more information about install process can be found on
Microsoftis “Steps to take before you install Windows XP Service Pack 3.”
Nearly 1,200 patches and hot fixes are contained in the service pack, so backing up the virtual machine for Mac users might be a good idea before installation.
Ben Rudolph, Parallelsi Director of Communications, told TMO on Tuesday that
theyire checking things out and will likely issue a new build of Desktop that will insure
100 percent compatibility with the update. Meanwhile, Mr. Keizeris article is a good place to start
building some warm fuzzys prior to the update.