Microsoft will launch a bumper security update tomorrow, addressing 26 vulnerabilities spread across its Windows and Office products.
The monthly security update - made available on what's commonly referred to as Patch Tuesday, the second Tuesday of each month - includes 13 bulletins, matching the software giant's previous largest security update in October 2009.
Of the 13 bulletins, five are rated as critical - the most severe rating in Microsoft's four-step scoring system - a further seven are rated as important, and a thirteenth bulletin is rated as moderate.
Multiple versions of Microsoft's Windows operating system will require the patches - including the latest release, Windows 7. Meanwhile, Office XP and Office 2003 will require important updates, and Mac users will be addressed, too, with an important update for Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac.
A critical update for Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser - originally intended to be part of the Patch Tuesday release - was made available as an out-of-band update in January.
In an effort to help IT administrators prepare for the bumper release, Microsoft has issued an advance notification for its February 2010 update. The update is expected to be made available via Microsoft Update at 19:00 hours on Tuesday, February 9th. Further details are available at Microsoft Technet.
