Microsoft has released the Out of Band security bulletin MS10-046 this morning. Make sure you download this and get it installed ASAP if your OS is affected. The OoB updates are especially important, they were so critical they release them ahead of schedule of a scheduled patch release. Grab it!

This security update resolves a publicly disclosed vulnerability in Windows Shell. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if the icon of a specially crafted shortcut is displayed. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the local user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.

This security update is rated Critical for all supported editions of Microsoft Windows. For more information, see the subsection, Affected and Non-Affected Software, in this section.

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For those that are on Mac’s and are in the market for Office, if you buy Office 2008 now through November, you’re eligible for a free upgrade to Office 2011 when it becomes available. Microsoft did the same offer for Windows users last year.

Purchase a qualifying Office 2008 for Mac product between Aug. 1, 2010, and Nov. 30, 2010, and you will be eligible to download Office for Mac 2011 at no additional cost* when it becomes available.

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With Windows 7 gaining market share, it also stands within reason that Internet Explorer 8 gains as well. And it did, at the expense of Firefox and Chrome. It may not be a huge gain in market share, but at least it is a gain and not a loss!

According to new statistics from Net Applications, Internet Explorer increased its share of the browser market in July by 0.42%, for a total share of 60.74%. Firefox, on the other hand, took the biggest hit: a loss of 0.9%. Google’s Chrome browser lost 0.08%, while Safari gained 0.24%

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From overtaking Mac OSX in it’s first couple weeks, to finally taking over Vista in under a year, Windows 7 continues to gain remarkable market share. Windows XP is dropping significantly after the release of Windows 7, as well.

Microsoft’s success with Windows 7 began before the product was even widely available. Released in October 2009, the operating system has received praise from consumers, businesses, and the media. In November 2009, Windows 7 managed to surpass Apple’s Snow Leopard market share in just two weeks. In early February, it was revealed that Windows 7 had reached 10% market share in just three months.

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Microsoft is releasing an important “out of band” release of a patch that affects most current users of their operating systems. Make sure you run Windows Updates on Monday if you don’t have automatic updates turned on.

Because of the seriousness of the flaw, Microsoft has decided to publish the patch before the company’s scheduled release of security patches Aug. 10. The so-called “out of band” release corrects a flaw that results in Windows incorrectly parsing shortcuts in a way that allows malicious code to be executed when the icon of a specially crafted shortcut is displayed, the company said.

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MintyWhite goes through their top five anti-virus/anti-malware applications to say who’s best. Personally, I have to agree with them with most of it. I think that Malwarebytes should be used in addition to MSE, they are not competing products, and work together very well. The others are spot on.

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