Microsoft: A Light Patch Tuesday Coming Up
Some systems managers may get a little gift before the holidays start this year. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) will deliver only three security patches next week for its regular Patch Tuesday bug fix drop -- and only one of them qualifies as "critical" -- the highest severity in the company's four-tier security ranking scale.
It will likely come as welcome relief for managers, given that several recent Patch Tuesday bug fix releases have been among the largest in the company's history. For instance, last month Microsoft patched 49 separate security vulnerabilities with a total of 16 patches -- which Microsoft refers to as Security Bulletins.
That stands in stark comparison with November's bulletins. However, that one bulletin is rated as critical for Office 2010, which just shipped in May, as well as Office 2007. The fix is only rated as "important" -- one step down from critical -- for Office XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) and Office 2003 SP3.
