Office 2003 SP3 To Be Pushed Out in February

• By Becky Nagel
• 01/31/08

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Don't want Office 2003 SP3 rolled out across your desktops next month? Then make sure you don't have Microsoft Update set to automatic.

Microsoft Tueday announced that it will be automatically pushing SP3 using Microsoft Update automatic distribution starting around Feb. 27, although the date is not exact. "[T]he availability will happen gradually and not everyone will see it at the same time," company representatives wrote in a post Monday on the Microsoft Update Product Team blog. "Think of the 27 as the marker.... [N]o sooner than 30 days from then is when SP3 will start to become available to customers' systems." 

SP3, originally released in September, contains numerous security updates and "stability improvements," according to the company. One of the most noted of those changes is that SP3 blocks certain older Microsoft office file types; Redmond made it easier unblock those files earlier this month.

The blog post also said that the push complies with Microsoft's new policy of how and when it will push such updates. "This announcement gels with the policy we made public in conjunction with the release of SP1 for the 2007 Microsoft Office System (no sooner than 3 months we will give customers 30 days notice that we are going to use Microsoft Update automatic distribution)," it reads in part. "Now we can push it to the hundreds of millions of users who depend on us to keep them secure, up to date, and productive and they can be comfortable and informed with regards to the improvements they are getting."

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About the author: Becky Nagel is executive editor, Web Initiatives for the 1105 Redmond Media Group and the editor of Redmondmag.com.

Proposals for articles and tips for news stories, as well as questions and comments about this publication, should be submitted to David Nagel, executive editor, at [email protected].