Once Microsoft finally released Windows XP Service Pack 3 to the Automatic Update after a last minute delay you might think the worst is over, but for many it doesn’t look like that’s necessarily the case. As the release has been rolling out to computers around the world there have been a number of reports with problems as you might expect with any major service pack, but one issue seems to be quite a bit more prevalent than the others.

According to ComputerWorld there have been many reports of an “endless reboot” problem that has been flooding forums with no real specific reason or response from Microsoft. One of the theories is that computers running AMD processors with XP are the ones having the problem, but the issue is not exclusive to AMD. Microsoft has said that problem comes from computer makers who used the wrong XP images to load the OS on AMD machines. HP, who was not named specifically by Microsoft, fired back saying that SP3 added a driver that was not previously present which causes the problem.

Microsoft has put on an announcement through one of its many channels that Office 2007 owners can expect Microsoft Office 2007 Service Pack 1 to show up in their Windows Automatic Updates sometime on or after June 16. The Office 2007 SP1 has been available since December of last year but Microsoft has been careful about forcing it into the general population of Office users.

As they had done with Office 2003, they are giving a 30 day warning/notice that the automatic update is coming. They also said that not everyone will see it at the same time since they will rolling it out a little at a time to be sure that their servers can handle the download requests.

Unlikely to bring the fanfare that the Canadian iPhone launch did, or even Zune’s own U.S. launch over a year ago, but nevertheless the Zune is launching in Canada on June 13. We had heard that the Canadians were going to get the media player from Microsoft on their own store shelves sometime in the near future, but no one had put a date on it until now. Microsoft is going to launch the 4, 8 and 80 GB capacity players with prices from $140 to $250 Canadian dollars. The launch will be limited to models in red, black and pink colors, only.

via Engadget

For those sticking it out with the device, Microsoft released a whole mess of new features today with the Zune version 2.5 software update. The new feature set is led by the Zune Card, TV downloads and a number of smaller, but highly requested items.

A subscription with the Zune Card allows you to pick up copies of favorite songs from your best buddies who also have a Zune. If you don’t subscribe you can still see others Zune Card information but you’ll have to pay to listen to their favorite tracks.

Our monthly check of new Microsoft updates revealed today the long awaited Windows XP Service Pack 3. We are in the middle of downloading the update right now so we can’t speak to performance, but we wanted to give you a heads up it is now available.

It’s never as much fun to write an article to report on things that aren’t going to happen, but in this case we think this is something that should happen and we still expect it to, despite Microsoft’s denials.

What we do know is that Microsoft had an HD DVD player for the Xbox 360 which they put a stop to producing. We also know that rumors keep cropping up that Microsoft is going to work something out with Sony to bring a Blu-ray player to the 360, and Microsoft continues to squash them.

Recently Microsoft announced a new partnership with the non-profit organization Companions in Courage, an organization dedicated to supporting families with children who are dealing with life-threatening medical conditions. As partners, Microsoft will be supplying hundreds of single Xbox 360 kiosks to children’s hospitals across the nation.

Some have already been installed at the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of New York-Presbyterian, the Children’s Hospital & Regional Medical Center of Seattle and the Children’s Hospital of Orange County, California. The kiosks won’t just feature games, but TV shows and movies as well, plus they’ll be connected to each other with a special version of the Xbox LIVE network. That will allow kids from one hospital to interact and play games with kids from another. If you like, you can be a part of the project too. Help bring more 360 kiosks to other hospitals by visiting the Companions in Courage website at http://cic16.org and making a donation. It’s a great way to help these kids out.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer issued a letter to Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang over the weekend stating that the company withdrawing its offer to Yahoo. Microsoft had raised its bid to well over the $33 per share, upping it by nearly $5 billion which was still not enough to sway Yahoo board members.

“Despite our best efforts, including raising our bid by roughly $5 billion, Yahoo! has not moved toward accepting our offer. After careful consideration, we believe the economics demanded by Yahoo! do not make sense for us, and it is in the best interests of Microsoft stockholders, employees and other stakeholders to withdraw our proposal,” said Ballmer in the letter.

Here’s another entry from Microsoft’s Next-Gen PC Design Competition. The AlphaGrip Handheld Computer (or AlphaGrip HC, for short), features full-size rocker keys on the front with a flip-up display and a keypad for thumb-typing. It also has a trackball for mousing and some buttons for “sophisticated PC games”.

Thing is, you may have noticed two things, both unappealing: It’s bulky and the top is shaped somewhat like a heart. I can’t imagine ever using this in public, but despite that fact, I like it. It took some imagination and looks a lot like the Atari Jaguar.

Earlier this week Microsoft announced that it is delaying the release of Windows XP SP3 because of some bugs it caused with the database server with Microsoft Dynamics. Last night I went home and was looking for the automatic update bringing SP1 to Vista and found that it wasn’t there either, much to my dismay as there are a number of issues I have on Vista that I was hoping to see corrected.

Today we find out that Microsoft has indeed delayed the release of Vista SP1 to Automatic Updates as well, due to the same issue. It sounds like some of found the problem has to do with SQL Server with Dynamics. It’s unlikely that the problem is with SQL Server alone since MS is surely to have tested that at some point, but the relatively few that are out there running Microsoft Dynamics are holding it up for the rest of us.

If you’ve been eagerly watching your Windows Update on XP waiting for SP3 to show up your wait is over; it’s not coming, or at least not quite yet. At what seemed like a very last minute decision, Microsoft on Tuesday delayed the launch of Windows XP Service Pack 3 due to a compatibility glitch with Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System software. The release was scheduled to be available through Windows Update on Tuesday and has already been released to manufacturing and volume customers last week.

“In the last few days, we have uncovered a compatibility issue between Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System (RMS) and both Windows XP SP3 and Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1),” said the firm.“In order to make sure customers have the best possible experience, we have decided to delay releasing Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) to the web.”

Microsoft has revealed some interesting info. Since June 2007, multiple law enforcement agencies have been using a forensic device it has developed that can bypass security on a Windows-powered machine and extract data for use in criminal investigations.

It’s named COFEE, for Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor. The device is a USB thumb-drive armed with 150 “commands” that can do all sorts of things like decrypt passwords, display internet activity, and uncover all data stored on the computer. The most important aspect is that it can do all of this on-site, instead of having to remove the machine during a search or raid and send it to a lab.

Chris Keroack, release manager for Windows XP Service Pack 3, has announced that the new service pack has been released to manufacturing (RTM) and is working its way to the OEM’s right now. For the rest of us, Microsoft is planning on getting XP SP3 online and available through Windows Update on April 29, along with its associated documentation.

This release is the first of its kind for XP since Microsoft released SP2 back in 2004, and is a welcome site to users of XP anywhere and especially to those that have battled with Windows Vista and lost, or at least came out slightly injured. Included in the update is a cumulative security update along with some performance and stability enhancements. They’ve also included some features to help integrated new Windows Vista OS’s along with existing XP machines on a network.

Are you content with simple multi-touch and built-in accelerometers? Microsoft Research thinks not. In fact they’re already working hard in the labs, toward integrating force-sensing technology. The kind of thing that will enable gestures and let you twist on-screen imagery without making UMPCs out of flexible material.

Those behind the idea feel that such tech would “turn an otherwise passive component that just holds the device together into an active input surface.” Auditory cues might even enable users to be alerted when they’ve applied enough pressure to cause a change. I just figure it’s a great way to play Rubik’s Cube in the future.

A rather strange landmark of the Albany, New York skyline is The Egg, a local performing arts venue. This oddly designed building could well be an omen for Microsoft’s freshly announced “Albany” subscription service - a big, fat laid egg.

Albany, as discussed by Microsoft product manager Bryson Gordon, will be an all you can eat service for consumers which gives them all the Microsoft goodness they can handle under one desktop. You can, for x amount of dollars, gain access to Office Home and Student 2007, Windows Live OneCare and Windows Live Mail, Messenger and Photo Gallery. This is on top of security updates and the like.