Microsoft on Friday wrapped up development on a long-awaited security update to Windows XP, paving the way for businesses and consumers to upgrade in the coming days and months.

The company said it has released Windows XP Service Pack 2 to manufacturing, following a series of delays. Microsoft will make the free update available via download and via CD, but it is recommending that customers turn on Windows' automatic upgrade feature and get the update that way.

The update should be distributed to approximately 100 million PCs through automatic updates during the next two months, Microsoft said. Customers who choose to download manually will be able to do so by the end of August.

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