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Microsoft fixing glitches in Windows, IE and more

Marketplace Staff Aug 9, 2010
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Microsoft fixing glitches in Windows, IE and more

Marketplace Staff Aug 9, 2010
HTML EMBED:
COPY

TEXT OF STORY

Bill Radke: Patching is in the news big time. Apple says it’s completed a security patch to stop cyber criminals from hacking into the operating system for iPhones and iPad’s. And tomorrow, Microsoft holds what techies are calling “Monster Patch Tuesday.” The company will supply 14 security fixes repairing almost three dozen flaws. Marketplace’s Janet Babin has that.


Janet Babin: The 34 patches are for glitches in Windows, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Office and Silverlight. This matches the record setting number of fixes Microsoft released in October of last year. The patches help prevent hackers from tweaking computer programs to get at valuable user information.

Daniel Bricklin co-created the first computer spreadsheet program and runs the company Software Garden. He says uses shouldn’t be troubled by these fixes. He says all complex software has bugs and vulnerabilities:

Daniel Bricklin: In the tech sphere, we like to know that our developers are looking for the bugs and are not only admitting them, they’re fixing them.

Bricklin says the reason for the large number of glitches is that Microsoft is patching up programs that didn’t exist a few years ago, like Vista and Windows 7. The more programs, the more bugs.

I’m Janet Babin for Marketplace.

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