Microsoft to release four critical patches

Microsoft announced plans Thursday to issue four "critical" security bulletins next week that address vulnerabilities in its Windows Mail, Internet Explorer and Windows XP.

Six bulletins in total, including the four critical fixes, will be released, according to Microsoft's advance advisory notification.

"Critical" is the most severe ranking Microsoft assigns to security flaws. That classification typically indicates that a system can be compromised remotely with little interaction required by the user.

Specifically, Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows Server 2003, IE 5.01 running on Windows 2000 with SP4, Outlook Express and Windows Mail in Vista are among the affected software.

Ironically, Microsoft has touted Vista as its most secure version of Windows to date, but even last April the software giant had to issue an emergency update that fell out of its usual monthly patch cycle.

The security update is designed to address Windows Mail in Windows Vista and Windows Vista x64.

[MadKiwi]

Ironical?

"Ironically, Microsoft has touted Vista as its most secure version of Windows to date, but even last April the software giant had to issue an emergency update that fell out of its usual monthly patch cycle."

You have to remember what MS is comparing Vista too, their previous operating systems. They aren't comparing Vista to other more secure operating systems....

[Stating]

Vista Only Less Unsecure

I don't think Microsoft ever said Vista is secure, only that is is "the most secure MS operating system ever". Remember, set expectations low and customers won't be disappointed.

[Sumatra-Bosch]

The Most Well-Adjusted Manson Ever !

Yeah, claiming that Vista is the most secure Windows ever is like saying someone is the most well-adjusted Manson family member ever.

[kool_skatkat]

No surprises...

It's just life as usual... patches, patches..

[tgrenier]

just like everyone else

can someone please name the hardware or software company that does not issue patches?

[mr. cynical]

no

No, and it does get tiring after awhile with all the hoo-hah about it. It's like the whole media hoopla around paris hilton. Who cares.

When you have 86% of the OS market, you're going to have alot of hackers trying to crack your system. More than anyone else. Apple issues patches as well just not as many because there's no money in cracking 4% of the market.

OSes are not ever going to be 100% crack proof no matter who makes them.

End of story.

[Macsaresafer]

Think a little.

It isn't patches or vulnerabilities that count. It's exploits, and
because Windows is exploited so frequently stories about
patches for it will be news.

As for OS X, there are plenty of people trying, but it just isn't as
easy to crack. Market share has nothing to do with it. Look at
the iPod, with more than 70% of the market, over 100 million
sold, and no malware. Then look at the fewer than 1,000 iPods
that users have installed Linux on. There is malware for those!
That's the end of the story.