Starting this Spring, the Service Pack Blocker Tool will let the guard down and allow Xp and Vista service packs to be installed, announced Microsoft blogger Brandon LeBlanc:

“I have some important information for those of you who have installed the Service Pack Blocker Tool for Windows XP or Windows Vista. The Service Pack Blocker Tool temporarily prevents the installation of a service pack through Windows Update, typically for one year after general availability of the service pack. We are announcing the upcoming expiration dates for the Service Pack Blocker Tool for Windows Vista SP1 and Windows XP SP3.”

The software blocker for Vista SP 1 will expire on April 28, while its XP SP 3 sibling will last until May 19.

However, those who really don’t want to upgrade will be left alone provided they meet certain criteria. Therefore, users having the Automatic Updates feature turned on will receive an alert from Windows Updates, so they would know that the

Users that already turned off their Automatic Updates will only be notified about the update if they manually check for updates.