Microsoft released version 3.0 of their Microsoft XML (MSXML) Parser, providing a production release of their new support for XSLT, XPath, and SAX2, as well as better conformance to the XML 1.0, Namespaces, and DOM specifications.

The new parser "represents a huge step beyond the MSXML 2.5 Release that shipped with Microsoft Windows 2000," but "includes only a few changes (mainly performance improvements) since the September 2000 MSXML 3.0 Beta Release."

For developers who want to replace their old MSXML implementations entirely, Microsoft offers a installer utility which replaces the old parser. By default, the new parser will run in 'side by side' mode, called only when specific IDs are used.

Microsoft has also upgraded their XMLHTTP functionality to run safely on servers as well as clients:

"Server-safe HTTP provides functionality similar to the XMLHTTP object, except in a server-safe way. To utilize server-safe HTTP, use the setProperty method of XMLDOMDocument2 or the setFeature method of SAXXMLReader. Alternatively, you can use this new object on its own as a generic server-side HTTP access component."

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