Microsoft still dealing with emergency patch problems

A hot fix issued by Microsoft on April 3rd has been hot fixed by another update pushed out on "Path Tuesday" along with several other updates. Apparently the April 3rd fix broke several applications including a free file compression utility and a CD ripping application. Users with this software have reported that they are unable to startup their system normally.

While it's easy to be critical of Microsoft for bungling a patch and breaking other applications I believe that the company had no choice in the matter. Shortly after the vulnerability was disclosed, security firms were issuing their own temporary patches in an effort to protect affected systems. Most of these patches are uninstalled upon the release of an official Microsoft patch, however in the meantime the company looks like a laggard with regard to its product support.

I will let Microsoft off easy for the patch what I will not forgive them for is sitting on this security issue and not fixing it though they had previously been notified. In light of other recent articles criticizing the US Government and other agencies for relying upon COT (Commercial Of the shelf Technology) I think that it's in Microsoft's best interest to patch every security vulnerability that it knows about. Even so I believe that it's a faulty decision to overly rely upon any product with such a shoddy security track record, but I will save that editorial for another day.