I’ve got Automatic Update turned on and other patches are coming down the pipe with depressing regularity, but not the big boy.

I’ve headed off to Windows Update to see if I can manually tempt the swine on to my system, but the site seems oblivious to XP SP3’s very existence. I’m being offered Office Comaptbility Pack Service Pack 1 (packs for packs? Give me strength), an update for Outlook 2007 and the first Service Pack for Office 2008 Accounting, but not a sniff of the final Service Pack for the most popular operating system in the company’s history.

I’ve even checked the System settings in Control Panel to check Microsoft hasn’t stealthily installed XP SP3 behind my back (As if it could… it can barely manage a tweak of WordPad without setting all the alarms off on my firewall and restarting the PC).

So where on Earth is my SP3? Other colleagues have happily downloaded it via Automatic Update, so I know there’s not a problem there. I’m also aware Microsoft has experienced “compatibility issues” with SP3 that prevents some people from being offered the download. But instead of warning me that I might have a problem, Windows Update is sticking its head in the sand and merrily pretending XP SP3 doesn’t exist, as far as I’m concerned.

I know I can download the patch manually – but I’m worried that if there is a compatibility issue with my system that’s preventing Microsoft from offering SP3 to me through Automatic Update, installing it myself could lead to a whole world of pain. And frankly, the negligible benefits on offer from SP3 don’t justify the risk.

Nevertheless, it’s nice of Microsoft to introduce some fear, uncertainty and doubt into my mind. With a Service Pack, of all things. Good work, guys.