boot13Steve Ballmer’s replacement as CEO of Microsoft is Satya Nadella, formerly in charge of the company’s enterprise and cloud products. Perhaps more interestingly, Nadella asked Bill Gates to get more involved in the company, and Gates agreed: he is stepping down as Chairman of the Board, and is expected to provide guidance for the company’s technology development.
Category Archives: Microsoft
Windows 8.1 Update 1 coming in March 2014
According to some reports, Microsoft is planning to release the next update for Windows 8 in March this year. It’s being referred to as “Update 1 for Windows 8.1”, which breaks new ground in Microsoft’s ongoing effort to confuse us with version nomenclature. If Windows 8.1 was the equivalent of Windows 8 Service Pack 1, then what’s this new thing? What makes it an ‘update’, while the previous release got its own version number? Both are free updates, so the only real difference is that Windows 8.1 is what you get when you try to buy Windows 8.
Version issues aside, speculation about the changes in Update 1 for Windows 8.1 is rampant. Of note is the rumour that Microsoft will finally relent and bring back the Start menu. The latest is that Microsoft may make it easier to find the controls for shutting down your computer, previously – and inexplicably – hidden in Windows 8 and 8.1. While welcome, it’s difficult to characterize this as progress when the feature was in Windows for decades previously. One step back, one step forward… eventually.
Patch Tuesday for January 2014
It’s a light month for Microsoft patches, with only four bulletins, none of which are flagged as Critical. The updates fix vulnerabilities in Office, Windows, and Server software.
Patches for the Windows XP NDProxy vulnerability and Office on Vista are among those made available today.
A post on the ISC Diary blog over at SANS has a useful overview of the vulnerabilities associated with this month’s patches.
As usual, the MSRC blog has its own spin on this month’s patches.
Advance notification for January Patch Tuesday
Microsoft has issued its usual notification of the upcoming Patch Tuesday. This month’s updates will become available around 10am PST on January 14. There will be four bulletins, addressing issues in Windows, Office and Server software. The NDProxy vulnerability affecting Windows XP will be patched via bulletin MS14-002. The MSRC blog has additional details.
Windows XP NDProxy vulnerability remains unpatched
A serious vulnerability affecting Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 was recently discovered. Microsoft issued advisory 2914486 to warn users about the vulnerability and recommend workarounds, but so far has not released a patch.
This vulnerability is being actively exploited, through the use of a specially-crafted PDF file. Opening such a file on a computer running Windows XP can result in an attacker gaining access to the computer.
The single workaround suggested in advisory 2914486 has some undesirable side-effects, including disabling VPN. But it may be better than the alternative, especially for users who frequently receive and open PDF files on Windows XP computers.
The usual advice applies: exercise extreme caution when browsing the web, clicking links in email, opening email attachments and opening files from unknown sources. When in doubt, don’t do it.
A post on the SANS ISC Diary blog has more, including a warning that these types of vulnerabilities may become much more common after Microsoft stops supporting Windows XP in April 2014. SANS has even coined a term for this event: Winmageddon.
Patch Tuesday for December 2013
Yesterday being the second Tuesday in December, another batch of updates was made available by Microsoft. This month there are eleven updates, affecting Windows, Internet Explorer, GDI+ and various server software. Five of the updates are flagged as Critical.
The official Security Bulletin Summary has all the technical details. As usual, there’s a somewhat less technical explanation of this month’s updates over at the MSRC blog. The MSRC post is worth reading, if only for the explanation of the difference between a security advisory and a security bulletin. The short version is that a bulletin is always associated with an update, whereas an advisory usually isn’t.
Windows 7 sales outpacing Windows 8
People are still staying away from Windows 8, according to the latest sales figures. When compared with historical Windows 7 sales, Windows 8 is selling extremely poorly.
To make matters worse for Microsoft, Windows 7’s current growth rate exceeds that of Windows 8. In other words, Windows 7 sales are increasing faster than Windows 8’s. That problem may actually get worse before it gets better – if it ever does get better – as we move closer to the end of support for Windows XP on April 8, 2014. Standard advice to anyone upgrading from Windows XP is to go with Windows 7: a solid operating system that will continue to receive support until 2020.
Microsoft is obviously aware that Windows 8 is starting to look like Windows Vista or Windows Me: versions of Windows heavily criticized and properly avoided where possible. And as you might expect, they are starting to look at backtracking on some of the most-despised features of Windows 8. Windows 8.1 brought back the Start button, but without the Start menu, that move was mostly pointless. But the next version of Windows may bring back the Start menu.
Advance Notification for December 2013 updates
On December 10, Microsoft will publish eleven bulletins, with associated updates affecting Internet Explorer, Windows, Microsoft Exchange and GDI+.
The official advance notification has the technical details, while a post on the MSRC blog describes the updates in less technical language.
Patch Tuesday for November 2013
It’s the second Tuesday of November, which means it’s time to update all your Windows computers. This month’s announcement lists eight bulletins, affecting Windows, Office, and Internet Explorer.
A patch for the recently-reported vulnerability in Internet Explorer will also be made available later today, according to Microsoft. It will appear in the November 2013 Patch Tuesday announcement as bulletin #3 (MS13-090).
For the full technical details on this month’s updates, see the related post on the Microsoft Security Response Center blog.
New Internet Explorer vulnerability being actively exploited
Another new exploit has been discovered by security researchers, this one affecting Internet Explorer. The exploit uses two as-yet unpatched vulnerabilities in IE 7 through 10.
This is not to be confused with the recently-announced exploit affecting Microsoft Office.
Recommendations:
- Avoid using Internet Explorer. If that’s not practicable, exercise extreme caution when browsing the web.
- Install and use Microsoft’s Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET)
Ars Technica has more details.
Update 2013Nov12: a patch for this vulnerability will be included with this month’s Patch Tuesday updates, later today.