Today Microsoft released security bulletin MS08-067 as an unscheduled patch release. This bulletin affects all current supported versions of Microsoft Windows (Windows 2000, XP, 2003, Vista, & 2008) and identifies a vulnerability where an attacker could execute code of their choice on a vulnerable machine without authentication. Direct external attacks are unlikely due to the public facing firewall you have in place, however if a machine were to become infected from a user download or malicious website, the infected PC on the LAN would be able to infect other vulnerable Windows machines on the LAN as well. Therefore we are working with our NOC team to deploy this patch on all monitored servers and workstations this evening starting at 7pm.
This is very short notice from Microsoft and uncharacteristic for them to release a patch off schedule. As a result, we are heeding their warnings and have a sense of urgency to get the patch applied to all monitored servers and workstations this evening. If you have our patch deployment service for pcs, please ask your users to keep their pc turned on this evening so the patch can be applied. It will also require a reboot, so your users may find their pc at the logon screen tomorrow. Thanks for your time and please contact our Help Desk if you have any problems.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
Surprise, Surprise......XP Deadline Extended Again!
Happy Friday to all!
Today we received breaking news from Microsoft which I'm sure will come as a shock to all of you (sense my sarcasm?).....but the sale of Windows XP has been extended from Jan 31, 2009 to July 31, 2009. This means that for the 3rd time since Windows Vista was released, Microsoft has extended the date to which customers can buy computers with Windows XP preinstalled. New computers will continue to ship with the Windows Vista license should you choose to upgrade at a later time.
In my opinion Windows Vista is an ok operating system now that it has had a service pack released for it, however my take is that it is too late for this version of Windows. It has received so much negative press that it will never recover. Do I like it better than XP? Absolutely not (I did say "ok" operating system!). We'll still recommend XP to clients, however we have no problem working with Vista either. Microsoft has been quietly working on what they are calling Windows 7, which is the successor to Vista and is slated for release sometime in 09. We went roughly 6 years without a new operating system, and now they are going to release another one in under 2 years....just a coincidence? I don't think so!
Today we received breaking news from Microsoft which I'm sure will come as a shock to all of you (sense my sarcasm?).....but the sale of Windows XP has been extended from Jan 31, 2009 to July 31, 2009. This means that for the 3rd time since Windows Vista was released, Microsoft has extended the date to which customers can buy computers with Windows XP preinstalled. New computers will continue to ship with the Windows Vista license should you choose to upgrade at a later time.
In my opinion Windows Vista is an ok operating system now that it has had a service pack released for it, however my take is that it is too late for this version of Windows. It has received so much negative press that it will never recover. Do I like it better than XP? Absolutely not (I did say "ok" operating system!). We'll still recommend XP to clients, however we have no problem working with Vista either. Microsoft has been quietly working on what they are calling Windows 7, which is the successor to Vista and is slated for release sometime in 09. We went roughly 6 years without a new operating system, and now they are going to release another one in under 2 years....just a coincidence? I don't think so!
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