Sign up today to be a monthly donor.
Click the Pic
Support Free Republic
Posted on 04/08/2014 11:52:37 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Summary: Microsoft Windows, Internet Explorer, Word and Publisher are patched, some products for the last time.
Today Microsoft released four security updates for Windows and Microsoft Office. These will be the last publicly-released updates for Windows XP and Office 2003.
A total of 11 vulnerabilities were addressed by these updates, including seven for Windows XP and four for Office 2003.
Separately, Microsoft released fixes for Internet Explorer 10 and 11 to address vulnerabilities fixed by Adobe in the Flash Player bundled in the Metro versions of IE.
Among the vulnerabilities patched is a critical error in the handling of RTF files by all versions of Microsoft Word. Microsoft says that "limited, targeted" attacks using this vulnerability have been observed in the wild.
The specific updates are:
MS14-017: Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Word and Office Web Apps Could Allow Remote Code Execution (2949660) — Three vulnerabilities in Microsoft Word and Word-related Office products like the Office Web Apps. One of these is the aforementioned RTF vulnerability, the only critical vulnerability of the three, and it affects all versions of all affected products. The other two vulnerabilities have much more limited scope: One affects the Word 2007 and 2010 File Format Conversion Utility. The other is a stack overflow in Word 2003.
MS14-018: Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer (2950467) — This update fixes six vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer. All versions of IE on all platforms are affected except for IE 10. Neither IE 10 nor IE 11 are affected by five of the six vulnerabilities and IE 11 is the only version affected by the other one. All affected IE versions are affected by at least one critical vulnerability.
MS14-019: Vulnerability in Windows File Handling Component Could Allow Remote Code Execution (2922229) — A non-critical vulnerability affects file handling in all versions of Windows. An attacker could trick users to run .bat or .cmd files from untrusted locations without a warning. This vulnerability was already publicly disclosed.
MS14-020: Vulnerability in Microsoft Publisher Could Allow Remote Code Execution (2950145) — Publisher 2003 and 2007 are vulnerable to a remote code execution attack by opening a specially-crafted file.
Microsoft judges that functioning exploit code is likely for 10 of the 11 vulnerabilities, the exception being the Office File Converter vulnerability, where they judge exploit code to be unlikely.
if not for Turbo tax and Quicken, I have zero use of Windows. I have tried all the windows emulators etc, but they are not there yet, so I still have a windows box.
A ordered a nice recent-model Dell Optiplex with Win 7 installed on eBay. Only $180 shipped, should work.
Your other choice is to install Linux immediately, but I need at least one Windows machine.
Different, yes, but no problem. Do not ever see using 8, with any luck 9 or whatever will be workable way down the road.
I’m retrieving my VMWare image for XP so I can update it. Then I’ll save it back to the archive in case I need it. Thanks for the info.
Just got the update alert for my Win7 and installed it. Now I gotta do the Win 7 laptop. I hate powering it up and seeing a bunch of needed updates.
!
Likewise. I'll stick with Vista and Win7. My wife got a laptop with Win8 and it is really cumbersome and awkward at functioning on different windows or finding history of sites and files.
Run VirtualBox on XP and install a Linux distro on a VM.
Then setup the VM to bridge to the NIC. You can then disable TCP/IP on WinXP so it can't be reached via the internet. The Linux VM will get that job.
You can use Firefox and keep your XP. I've been using XP this way for a month or more and it works great. And it's free.
M4emergency
Windows XP support will be available after April 8—just not for you
Just this morning I fired up a copy of Excel 97 to make a graph that just can’t be done on any later versions. It’s on a PC in my garage that runs XP and doesn’t connect to anything. I’m not worried about updates, unless someone figures how to get PC viruses from mice.
Just started using Win 7 and find it just fine. Similar enough to XP to be not the disgusting jolt that the wife’s Win 8 machine is.
***
You can download an app called “ClassicShell”. Look and feel of Windows XP ...
Don't keep us in suspense!
What sort of graph might that be?
Thanks for the tip.
Of greater concern:
90% of the ATMs in the US run Win XP - in order to protect yourself, you should only get money from trusted ATMs [ie: banks]. You don't want to use a fly-by-night ATM at a Mom & Pop store ...
Still an alien environment, no thank you. The new version of Windows Explorer is weird enough in Win 7.
Will wait for the next OS version to upgrade, if ever.
Watch out for the new Bubonic Plague Virus!
You get it from the fleas on your mouse!
If you thought the dreaded Blue Screen Of Death (BSOD) was horrible, with untll you see the Dreaded Bubonic Plague Virus - The BLACK Screen of Death.
Worst by far than even the Dread Pirate Roberts!. /s
A "scatter plot" of x vs. y variables where the x values are different for each line on the graph.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.