Posted 07/27/09 at 01:00:00 PM by David Murphy

As we close up yet another month of freeware goodies, it's important to look back and reflect on some of the awesome programs that received a version bump in the past 30 days. It was tough to nail down five free applications that not only upgraded themselves to a new iteration, but ones that successfully packed new and interesting features into their latest builds. There's no overarching theme this week save for that. It's a grab-bag of awesome new software to install; if the lack of a unifying concept horrifies you, don't worry. I'll list out all of this month's freeware roundups in the article below, which you can use as a guide of-sorts to travel back to safer downloading waters.

Click the upgrade button (okay, the jump) and check out the best of this month's updated freeware!

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Posted 07/16/09 at 07:03:15 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Microsoft has ended support for Office 2000, which was launched a decade ago. The productivity suite had been in its extended support period since July 1, 2004, which elapsed on Tuesday. If your heart still beats for Office 2000 for some reason, you can find all the patches that were released for Office 2000, during its 10-year support lifecycle, on the Download Center.

Microsoft is gearing up to enter a new era with its upcoming Office 2010 productivity suite. The company launched a limited-by-invitation technical preview of Office 2010 on Monday. It has also announced it plans to offer a web-based version of the application suite called Office Online.

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Posted 02/09/09 at 10:48:26 AM by Mark Edward Soper

Whether you're using Windows and IE, managing Microsoft Exchange or SQL Server at work, or using Microsoft Office, this month's Patch Tuesday has a security update for you. All four security bulletins address Remote Code Execution vulnerabilities in recent and current service packs for each product listed:

• IE 7: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003
• Microsoft Office: Visio 2002, 2003, 2007
• SQL: SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine on Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003; Windows Internal Database (WYukon) on Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008; SQL Server 2000 and SQL Server 2005
• Exchange Server: Exchange 2000 Server, Exchange Server 2003, Exchange Server 2007

But Wait, There's More!

Other updates to be released tomorrow include:

• Cumulative Update for Windows Vista Media Center (KB960544)
• Cumulative Update for Windows Vista Media Center TVPack (KB958653)
• Upgrade Rollup for ActiveX Killbits for Windows (KB960715)
• February 2009 updates for Windows Mail Junk Email Filter (KB905866) and Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool (KB890830)

For details, look up the KB article numbers starting Tuesday.

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Posted 11/11/08 at 01:17:52 PM by Mark Edward Soper

This month's Patch Tuesday, unlike October's, is a quiet one, with just two security bulletins:

• MS08-069 solves a remote code execution vulnerability in Microsoft's XML Core Service that is rated as Critical for version 3.0 and Important for later versions. All 32-bit and 64-bit desktop versions of Windows from Windows 2000 SP4 through Windows Vista SP1 are affected, as well as Microsoft Office 2003 and 2007. The Exploitability Index is 1 (Consistent Exploit Code Likely - the most serious ranking) or 2 (Inconsistent Exploit Code Likely), depending upon the version of XML Core Services installed. Windows Server 2003 and some installations of Windows Server 2008 are also affected.
• MS08-068 patches a remote code execution vulnerability in the SMB protocol. MS08-068 is rated as Important for Windows 2000 SP4 and Windows XP, and Moderate for Windows Vista. Windows Server 2003 and all Windows Server 2008 installations are also affected. Despite Microsoft's rating this vulnerability as only Important rather than Critical, MS08-068's Exploitability Index is 1 because exploit code targeting Windows XP is already public.

That's it for Patch Tuesday security bulletins, both of which will be arriving soon via Windows Update (or can be downloaded manually if you prefer). What else has Microsoft served up?

The only non-security content this time is the usual monthly update for the Malicious Software Removal Tool (KB890830; not yet updated as this article was posted now updated) and the usual monthly update for the Windows Mail junk mail filter (KB905866), available in 32-bit and 64-bit versions.

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Posted 07/05/08 at 01:38:29 AM by Paul Lilly

This holiday weekend many of you will be kicking back with a cold one, firing up the grill, spectating your local fireworks display, and perhaps catching up on a videogame or two when the festivities all come to an end. But while you're busy unwinding, hackers continue to look for ways to distribute malicious code and exploit vulnerabilities. Don't let what's supposed to be a relaxing weekend turn into a hair-pulling experience because you were caught off guard.

Update to Opera 9.5.1

Opera Software unveiled version 9.5 of its flagship browser less than a month ago, and the first major update is now available. Patching Opera to version 9.5.1 addresses several bugs and stability issues, and at least one "highly critical" vulnerability that could be used to execute arbitrary code. And it's not just Windows users that should install the update, but Mac OS X and Linux lovers too. Areas addressed in the update include:

• User Interface
• Mail/News
• Display and Scripting
• Security
• Miscellaneous

View the 9.5.1 changelog for a detailed list of changes, and then hit the jump to see why you should be extra cautious about using the VLC Media Player.

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Posted 04/16/08 at 08:51:25 AM by Mark Soper

The long-awaited release of Windows XP SP3 is almost here. Find out how Microsoft is staging the release and review our extensive coverage of SP3's new and improved features.

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Posted 02/06/08 at 10:56:15 PM by Mark Soper

Microsoft's newest application compatibility update rolls out a 'new' strategy for dealing with programs that don't get along with Vista: blocking. Find out more about how blocking works - and who decides what apps get blocked.

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