I'm now on XP SP3. I always wait on a major update in order to evaluate the experience of others. I support a lot of machines on a university campus, and users (and I) don't like nasty surprises. When I set up a new machine, I always load everything available; not necessarily so for service packs on machines that have been in use for a while. The two machines I have at home were upgraded earlier, but that's a different story. Here on campus we have a system that checks machines for required updates and anti-virus (http://www.bradfordnetworks.com/); it now considers SP3 a required update (which I don't agree with).
I upgraded this afternoon because (a) it was time, and ( I wanted to upgrade Paint.NET. I already had .NET 3.5 and Windows update 3.1, but not the full SP3.
On the other hand, many software packages try very hard to work at the earliest compatibility level possible, rather than targeting the latest. Microsoft is burdened with this at every turn, but it pays off.
By the way, the confirmation code on the registration page can be very hard to read. I don't know for a fact, but it may be impossible for someone who is color blind.
// Ted Brewster
