Have used the Black Edition in some of my builds and it is nice, but usually prefer to upgrade my own XP. I know that for a fact that genuine Black Edition does not have any malware. Well maybe some addons that you do not really need.

I would say no. Once you integrate all updates and service packs, performance drops compared to vanilla SP3 or SP2.

For retro purposes, I would use vanilla SP2, on a computer disconnected from the internet.

Agree totally. SP2 does all the gaming and program running, only if you have a faster computer, or go to internet with XP, then you need SP3 plus additional updates. Hey I never even hd any troubles with SP1, maybe you just need to update the NET. framework to run some games and programs.

Performance drop from updates is non-existent on SSD. But yeah, purely for games, updating all the way up to 2019 (Windows XP Embedded EoL) is not necessary.

I am using Windows XP Professional SP3 x86 - REMOVED at the moment on one of my retro pc's. It includes everything I need and also includes some optional components like 7-zip etc. There is a newer version available btw.

Can't post links for obvious reasons but it's easy to find and what I could gather it's from trustworthy people. No viruses or malware found with Bitdefender virusscanner (with the latest updates).

I made an xp x86 post sp3 build from the community at ryanvm.net aand posted it on arvice withut keys.
That and I integrated all the driverpacks.
Best thing I have done but I don't put the pos+ updates as I use it on older p2 p3 machines as well as newer.
Recommend p4 or equiv for the sufficient cpu extensions to run on current web.