Microsoft explains missing Mac Office patches
Microsoft today explained why it has not patched older versions of its Office for Mac, but would not disclose a release schedule for doing so.
"We cannot give an exact date, but we expect to provide these updates during one of our normal monthly update cycles very soon," said Jerry Bryant, a group manager in the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC). Bryant was responding to questions raised Tuesday when Microsoft issued a multi-patch update for all versions of Office on Windows, including Office XP, 2003, 2007 and 2010, and Office for Mac 2011.
However, Microsoft did not deliver patches for the vulnerabilities in Office for Mac 2004 and Office for Mac 2008. "The updates for Mac Office 2004 and 2008 were not ready for broad distribution at the same time as the updates for the affected products used by the vast majority of our customers," said Bryant in an e-mail reply to Computerworld queries.
