NT4 Service Pack 7 Cancelled Hardly Any Hotfixes Byron Alley
April 23, 2001 - Microsoft has chosen to cancel the release of NT 4 Service Pack 7, which would have been the final Service Pack for Windows NT 4. The Service Pack, a collection of updates for the operating system, was cancelled due to the low number of hotfixes which Microsoft has released since the last Service Pack.
The last Service Pack issued for Windows NT 4.0 was SP6a, which was released in November of 1999. Microsoft previously announced that SP7 would be delayed until late 2001 due to the small number of hotfixes released since SP6a. However, the number of hotfixes has steadily dropped and Microsoft has decided that another Service Pack will not be necessary.
Another reason that the company has chosen not to issue another Service Pack is that the main issue at hand is the security updates. Rather than bundle security updates with another entire Service Pack--since Service Packs have been known to cause problems with existing systems--instead, the company will issue an easy-to-install package of security updates. The security update package should be available later in 2001.
