Apple and Microsoft Release Critical Patches

SkiifGeek writes "Both Microsoft and Apple have released major security updates in the last 24 hours. Microsoft's single update (MS09-017) addresses fourteen distinct vulnerabilities across all supported versions of PowerPoint, but it isn't the number of patched vulnerabilities that is causing trouble. Instead, the decision to release the patch for Windows versions while OS X and Works versions remain vulnerable to the same remote code execution risks (including one that is currently being exploited) hasn't gone down well with some people. Microsoft have given various reasons why this is the case, but this mega-update-in-a-patch is still interesting for other reasons. Meanwhile, Apple has updated OS X 10.5 to 10.5.7 as part of the 2009-002 Security Update, as well as a cumulative update for Safari 3 and the Public Beta for 4. As well as addressing numerous significant security risks, the 10.5.7 update provides a number of stability and capability enhancements and incorporates the Safari 3 update patch. Probably the most surprising element of the Apple update is the overall size of it; 442MB for the point update, and 729MB for the ComboUpdate."

Comments

Static linking

[m50d]

Apple's "everything bundled in the .app" policy may help avoid DLL hell, but this is the price you pay for it.

Re:obvious conflict of interest

[pandrijeczko]

There's a gigantic conflict of interest here. By treating MacOS as a second-class citizen, they can hurt a competitor in the OS market. If MS can make people perceive Windows as the only first-class platform on which to run Office, it makes MS more likely to retain market share for Windows. MS's interests in this case are diametrically opposed to the interests of their users.

I talk a walk around my office the other day - not one desktop machine was running OS X or Linux.

Then I went into our server room - lots of machines running Linux, Windows, Solaris but... nope, not one OS X machine in their either.

This tells me Linux and Solaris compete with Windows in the server space but nothing competes with Windows on the desktop.

So get used to it - OS X is no competition on the desktop. Neither is Linux but I still love it and use it for most of my computing tasks and find that XP fills in for the things Linux cannot do. Thus my computing needs are fulfilled by both OSes and I'm a happy bunny who doesn't give a shit about "The Battle For The Desktop".

You Apple fanbois have a real chip on your shoulders about reminding the rest of the world how wonderful your platforms of choice are - despite the fact that most of the world doesn't give a toss about OS X.

Re:size matters?

[Midnight Thunder]

Updates which include both PowerPC and Intel, and which span more than the most recent OS update tend to be quite large.

Add to this 32-bit and 64-bit variations for each chipset, multiple languages, and you really have something very large. At the same time there is also very a good possibility that even if one minor thing changes in a file, it is the whole file that is replaced, instead of simply having a binary diff applied.

Whatever way you look at it, it is big, but who cares? Of course if you are limited to dial up then that is an issue.

The thing that should be pointed out is the way the article summary makes it look like the 10.5.7 update is simply a security fix. It isn't and is more the equivalent of a Microsoft Service Pack.