Wise Young
10-13-2006, 08:40 AM
In any unusual move (because Microsoft seldom releases free updates), Microsoft just released a whole series of updates for their Office software for the Macintosh, including Office 2004, Office v. X, Office, 2001, Office 98, Virtual PC for the Mac, and other products. These are free updates, converters and other software. http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.aspx
The updates for Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.3.0 and Microsoft Office v. X for Mac 10.1.8 were released October 10, 2006 and enhances security and stability. While there were complaints from some people saying that they had trouble with using the Office 2004 11.3 update at version tracker http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/14980 , I didn't have any problems installing it on my computer and the updated program correctly indicates version 11.3 and it works. However, on MacFixit, some users continue to report problem (Source (http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=2006101207232785)). There doesn't seem to be as much of a problem with the Office v. X update.
The security flaws that the updates address are regarded to have a maximum severity rating of critical for earlier versions of Office and a maximum severity rating of important for more recent versions of Office (Source (http://www.themoneytimes.com/articles/20061011/microsoft_tilted_networking_glitch_to_fix_26_secur ity_flaws-id-101835.html)). Given these ratings, I decided to go ahead and install the updates despite the problems reported by some Mac users. It is possible that the installation problems were successfully addressed by Microsoft because I had no problem whatsoever.
So far in 2006, Microsoft has released a record number of security updates, addressing no less than 44 distinct vulnerabilities in the Office program. Most of these have been labelled "critical", "meaning that bad guys can install malicious programs on your machine just by convincing you to open a poisoned document or spreadsheet. By comparison, Microsoft issued just six updates to fix problems in Office last year" (Source (http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2006/10/patch_tuesday_exploit_thursday.html)). It is particularly interesting that Microsoft released all this update code for the Macintosh as well because the Mac has been less of a target for hackers.
It seems that people who have Windows versions of Office should update their software. Apparently, there is an XML bug that is potentially very serious for all Windows operating systems and that attackers could exploit this vulnerability to compromise Windows machiens just by convincing users to visit a malicious web site (Source (http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2006/10/microsoft_updates_fix_26_secur.html)). In addition, Windows users should patch a flow in Explorer that "criminals have been exploiting to compromise Windows computers over the past few weeks". Apparently, network problems prevent automatic updating by the programs themselves (Source (http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=25683)).
The updates for Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.3.0 and Microsoft Office v. X for Mac 10.1.8 were released October 10, 2006 and enhances security and stability. While there were complaints from some people saying that they had trouble with using the Office 2004 11.3 update at version tracker http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/14980 , I didn't have any problems installing it on my computer and the updated program correctly indicates version 11.3 and it works. However, on MacFixit, some users continue to report problem (Source (http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=2006101207232785)). There doesn't seem to be as much of a problem with the Office v. X update.
The security flaws that the updates address are regarded to have a maximum severity rating of critical for earlier versions of Office and a maximum severity rating of important for more recent versions of Office (Source (http://www.themoneytimes.com/articles/20061011/microsoft_tilted_networking_glitch_to_fix_26_secur ity_flaws-id-101835.html)). Given these ratings, I decided to go ahead and install the updates despite the problems reported by some Mac users. It is possible that the installation problems were successfully addressed by Microsoft because I had no problem whatsoever.
So far in 2006, Microsoft has released a record number of security updates, addressing no less than 44 distinct vulnerabilities in the Office program. Most of these have been labelled "critical", "meaning that bad guys can install malicious programs on your machine just by convincing you to open a poisoned document or spreadsheet. By comparison, Microsoft issued just six updates to fix problems in Office last year" (Source (http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2006/10/patch_tuesday_exploit_thursday.html)). It is particularly interesting that Microsoft released all this update code for the Macintosh as well because the Mac has been less of a target for hackers.
It seems that people who have Windows versions of Office should update their software. Apparently, there is an XML bug that is potentially very serious for all Windows operating systems and that attackers could exploit this vulnerability to compromise Windows machiens just by convincing users to visit a malicious web site (Source (http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2006/10/microsoft_updates_fix_26_secur.html)). In addition, Windows users should patch a flow in Explorer that "criminals have been exploiting to compromise Windows computers over the past few weeks". Apparently, network problems prevent automatic updating by the programs themselves (Source (http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=25683)).