Emergency patch for MS products (Vista/w7)

[GroundZero3]

NewsFactor Network | Emergency Patch Fixes Windows Shortcut Vulnerability

Microsoft has rushed out a patch to correct the way Windows parses shortcuts, a vulnerability we reported two weeks ago. Hackers have been exploiting the bug, which Microsoft had warned was most likely to be spread by removable drives when AutoPlay was not disabled.

While the patch, rated critical, fixes currently supported Windows operating systems, Windows XP SP2 and Windows 2000 were not included. Those versions have reached their end of life, although many systems are still using them. The patch can be applied with the Microsoft Update and Windows Update services.

FYI!

[Steve R Jones]

How much money would you be willing to spend on supporting XP SP2? MS thinks you already gotten your money's worth...On the flip side - if MS charged a $1000 bucks for a new OS like WIn 7 then they could afford to support it longer

Updated to add: A reader added this link to Security Active Blog into the comments of this post.

The Security Update for Windows XP Embedded also installs on Windows Service Pack 2 systems and no registry tweak is needed. The file is called WindowsXP-KB2286198-x86-custom-ENU.exe.
How to Install LNK Update (KB2286198) on Windows XP SP2 - F-Secure Weblog : News from the Lab

[ShyguyXPC]

Win7 is better than vista but it is so confusing! I can't agree that older systems became obsolete. XP for example works great for me and it's much faster than vista. But of course i use sp3. Anyway i think they should keep supporting older versions. They can't make people switch to new products when the older ones are better.

This is one of those things that irritate me when people keep comparing Windows XP to the newer OS's...

HELLO PEOPLE, ITS BEEN OUT FOR NINE, THATS RIGHT NINE YEARS!!!!

Its had more than its fair share of time fixing problems, patches, updates, add on's, performance enhancements, etc, versus the newer OS's that though much more advance, and technically should be faster over all, have barely gotten out of the starting gate.

bad analogy, but, its like comparing 2 cars in mile long drag race, where the older seasoned less powerful/feature rich car has about a 3/4 mile headstart and the new top of the line High performance one is just starting from the line.

even if the newer one has plenty more horsepower, acceleration, features etc, the older one is more likely to finish the race than the newer.

XP has a HUGE handicap when compared to Windows Vista and 7, since its been around longer and been enhanced so much.

I still remember back when everyone was switching from Windows 98 and ME to XP, yeah, sure it was MILES better in capabilities, but it had Bugs, and there were still droves of people that Claimed Win98/98SE was so much faster and better than XP, despite having at least 2 to 3 years headstart on XP, and was based off the older buggy Windows 95, much like 7 is with Vista now days.



As to "Win7 is better than vista but it is so confusing!"... what the heck is so confusing between the 2, Windows 7 is really nothing more than Windows Vista Second Edition, if you can figure out how to use Vista fine, Windows 7 should be a breeze, minus some of the changes, but the majority of the OS should be similar in use.