Office 2010 heads to the finish line

Jevon Fark just posted details about the roll-out of Office 2010.

Starting today, consumers who purchase and activate Office 2007 will be able to download Office 2010 at no additional cost when it becomes available in June 2010.

For businesses, we will launch the 2010 set of products, including Office 2010, SharePoint 2010, Visio 2010, and Project 2010 worldwide on May 12… For consumers, Office 2010 will be available online and on retail shelves this June.

I’m still lukewarm about Office 2010, just as I was (and am) lukewarm about Office 2007. There are some significant improvements, but to me it’s hard to justify spending big bucks to change from Office 2003.

Microsoft says NO to the F1 key

You may have read about Microsoft advising people to avoid the F1 key. People who like to take jabs at MS have seized on the opportunity to point out that the Redmond Emperor Has No Clothes. Of course, you read this blog, so you knew that already.

As MS explains in Security Advisory 981169, if you’re running Windows XP and you use Internet Explorer, you’re vulnerable to getting infected if you press the F1 key to run help files offered up on the Internet.

You don’t have to worry about it. You’ve already upgraded to Windows 7. And you never, ever, ever use Internet Explorer. Right?

Forget the F1 key. Get Firefox or Chrome.

MS-DEFCON 4: Get Patched

Microsoft just fixed the really bad February patch. MS10-015 / KB 977165, which I wrote about two weeks ago, had a nasty habit of clobbering Windows XP machines. According to a Microsoft Security Response Center blog, MS10-015 is now offered “with new logic that prevents the security update from being installed on systems if certain abnormal conditions exist.”

In other words, if your WinXP PC is infected with the Alureon rootkit, MS10-015 won’t install itself, and you won’t be faced with an endless cycle of Blue Screens of Death.

With that big problem out of the way, it’s now time to apply the February Black Tuesday patches. Get yourself all patched up, then make sure Automatic Updates is turned off. The two March patches will be out next week, and you don’t want Microsoft to zap you. Again.

I’m moving us to MS-DEFCON 4: There are isolated problems with current patches, but they are well-known and documented here. Check this site to see if you’re affected and if things look OK, go ahead and patch.

Windows 7 mysteriously re-boots every two hours

If your copy of Win7 is mysteriously re-booting itself every two hours, and none of your changes are saved in the process, chances are very good that you’re running the Release Candidate.

It’s time to get real. Er, get the real version of Win7.

Microsoft’s Knowledge Base article 971767 has the details, but the bottom line is that two-hour re-boots start today, and on June 1, you’ll start booting to a black Windows wallpaper. It ain’t the end of the world, but if you haven’t saved your changes, the result could be, uh, startling.