Microsoft Slates First Windows 8, RT Patches

Microsoft announced it will issue six security updates next week, including three for Windows 8 and its tablet spin-off Windows RT. The half-dozen updates will patch 19 vulnerabilities in Windows, Internet Explorer (IE) and the .Net framework. The four critical updates - the highest threat ranking in Microsoft's four-step system - will patch 13 bugs, including an unknown number in Windows Server 2012, Windows 8 and Windows RT, the operating system that powers Microsoft's own Surface RT tablet.

The Windows 8 and Windows RT security updates will be the first shipped since those operating systems' launch on Oct. 26. While Microsoft had previously issued patches for the new OSes, all but a September "out-of-band" fix for IE tackled problems in its unfinished previews, not the final code. The update slated for IE is among the critical quartet, and will address one or more vulnerabilities in IE9, now the second-newest browser in Microsoft's stable. IE9 runs only on Windows 7 and Windows Vista.