Microsoft is putting the finishes touches to its new update program, set to replace Windows Update Service.
Microsoft Update Service, finally shipped out in the form of a beta trial version, is to be tested by 25,000 users before rolling out later this year.
The new service will work on Exchange 2003, MSDE 2000, Office 2003, Office XP, SQL Server 2000, Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP.
The service will be part of Microsoft's continuing security drive mapped out by Bill Gates at RSA.
In a day of patching and update fun Apple has patched nine flaws in its latest update for the Mac OS X operating system. Included is a patch to mend a hole in Apple's Safari browser similar to the one papered over by Mozilla in its Firefox update last month.
But patches are not always the success they intend to be. A fix for Apple's iTunes, that prevented users bypassing the digital rights management system, has been cracked – one day after its implementation. The infamous "DVD Jon" Jon Lech Johansen, who cracked DVD's, led a team who created PyMusique, much to Apple's chagrin.