It’s another Patch Tuesday, usually referred to by Microsoft as ‘Update Tuesday’. Terminology aside, what it means is a big pile of updates that will be foisted upon most Windows users over the next few days.

Those of us sticking with Windows 8.1 can still review the available updates and install them at our leisure, which can be very satisfying when an update that we defer turns out to cause problems. But Microsoft seems to reserve its major screwups to Windows 10 updates these days (incuding this month’s printing crashes, and the fix for those crashes).

If you’re running Windows 10, you can defer updates for as long as a month… unless you’re running any of the Home versions, in which case the updates are as inevitable as taxes.

This month’s updates address several extremely serious security vulnerabilities in Exchange, Microsoft’s email server software, which ordinary folks are very unlikely to be running.

But the parade also includes updates for the usual offenders: Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge (both the Chromium-based and original versions), Office (Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, Visio), Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code, and of course Windows. One hundred and thirty-one vulnerabilities* are addressed in all.

Microsoft’s Security Update Guide is currently the official source for this information. The SUG has undergone some improvements lately, and it’s gradually getting easier to navigate, which is a relief.

If you’re still running Windows 7, today’s festivities are largely meaningless, though Microsoft does occasionally toss a bone in your direction, in the form of a Windows 7 update normally reserved for those deep of pocket. Microsoft will presumably continue to do this when a flaw is serious enough that witholding the fix would create a public relations problem for the company.

The release notes for today’s updates provide additional details, though they are still sadly somewhat incomplete.

* The vulnerability count varies depending on who’s looking. According to the SANS Internet Storm Center, “This month we got patches for 122 vulnerabilities. Of these, 14 are critical, 5 are being exploited and 2 were previously disclosed.” Brian Krebs says “from Microsoft today…the company released software updates to plug more than 82 security flaws in Windows and other supported software. Ten of these earned Microsoft’s “critical” rating”. Clearly Microsoft’s Security Update Guide still needs work.

This month’s pile from Microsoft includes fixes for vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer (9 and 11), both variants of Edge (Chromium and EdgeHTML), Office (2010, 2013, 2016, and 2019), SharePoint, Visual Studio, Windows (7, 8.1, and 10), and Windows Server (2008, 2012, 2016, 2019).

There are fifty-three security bulletins in all, and fifty-three associated updates. The updates includes fixes for one hundred and twenty vulnerabilities, twenty-one of which have been flagged as having critical severity. All of the critical vulnerabilities involve potential remote code execution.

As usual, the details are available in Microsoft’s Security Update Guide.

You can still get the Windows 7 updates legitimately, but only if you subscribe to Microsoft’s rather expensive Extended Security Updates program.

Windows 10 systems will update themselves automatically, although with newer versions, you have some control over when that happens. With Windows 10, most updates are going to get installed at some point. But delaying them can allow you to avoid updates that cause problems, since Microsoft usually issues fixes for the updates shortly after problems are discovered. But doing that potentially leaves your computer vulnerable in the interim. It’s your call. Adjust the update settings by going to Settings > Update & Security > Advanced options.

For Windows 8.1 users, it’s all about Windows Update. If you’ve configured it to install updates automatically, you’re basically in the same boat as Windows 10 users. Otherwise, locate Windows Update in the Control Panel, and click the Check for updates button.

If you run Windows 10 and are curious about the updates Microsoft will be jamming down your throat in the next few days; if you run Windows 7 and want to know what you’re missing out on by not being rich enough to afford Microsoft’s Extended Security Updates program; or if you’re running Windows 8.1 and want to know a bit more about the updates you’re about to install, read on.

Analysis of Microsoft’s comprehensive — yet still oddly difficult to navigate — Security Update Guide for this month reveals that there are sixty-five distinct updates and associated bulletins. Actually, since Microsoft is now calling these things ‘articles’, I’ll do the same. So there are sixty-five articles with associated updates, many of which are packaged into bundles: one with all the month’s updates, and one with only security-related updates.

The updates address a total of one hundred and twenty vulnerabilities in the usual lineup of Microsoft software: Windows (10, 8.1, and 7), Office (2010, 2013, 2016, and 2019), Internet Explorer 9 and 11, Edge (the one built on Chromium), .NET, SharePoint, and Visual Studio.

As is usual these days, Windows 10 updates are installed at Microsoft’s whim, Windows 7 updates are out of reach for most folks, and Windows 8.1 updates are installed via Windows Update in the Control Panel.