Microsoft to issue more critical patches next week for Win7 than XP

Microsoft today said it would deliver nine security updates next week, four of them critical, to patch 21 vulnerabilities in Windows, Internet Explorer (IE), Office, .Net and Silverlight.

This year's February Patch Tuesday will feature three fewer updates and one less patch than 2011's.

Four of the nine updates were tagged "critical," the highest threat ranking in Microsoft's four-step system, while the other five were marked "important," the second-level rating. All of the critical updates and two of those pegged important will patch bugs that Microsoft admitted could be exploited by attackers to hijack computers and plant malware on PCs. Read more...