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Bulletin Severity Rating:Important - This security update resolves one publicly disclosed vulnerability and several privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows. The vulnerabilities could allow elevation of privilege if an attacker logged on locally and ran a specially crafted application. An attacker must have valid logon credentials and be able to log on locally to exploit these vulnerabilities. The vulnerabilities could not be exploited remotely or by anonymous users. View the full article

Bulletin Severity Rating:Important - This security update resolves a publicly disclosed vulnerability in the Internet Connection Signup Wizard of Microsoft Windows. This security update is rated Important for all supported editions of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. All supported editions of Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 R2 are not affected by the vulnerability. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user opens a .ins or .isp file located in the same network folder as a specially crafted library file. For an attack to be successful, a user must visit an untrusted remote file system location or WebDAV share and open a document from this location that is then loaded by a vulnerable application. View the full article

Windows IT Pro Eleven years after it led the charge for slate PC computing, Microsoft is in an awkward place: Apple, a newcomer to this market at least, has seized the hearts and minds—if not yet the pocketbooks—of consumers with a new type of slate PC computer called the iPad. ... View the full article

The New York Times is reporting that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer may show off some new slates and tablets from various PC partners at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2011 in January. View the full article

On December 13, Microsoft released to manufacturing two of its upcoming small-business-focused servers: Windows Small Business Server 2011 (codenamed SBS 7). View the full article

Microsoft has joined a coalition consisting primarily of travel sites that is lobbying to block Google’s pending acquisition of ITA Software. View the full article

Windows IT Pro A federal judge on Friday dismissed a vaguely worded patent infringement lawsuit against 11 tech firms because it didn't specify which of the company's products or technologies infringed on the patents. The suit was filed against Apple, Facebook, Google, and other tech firms ... View the full article

Supersite Tech news and tidbits of the day, from around the web, including some holiday stress, sending a card to our troops overseas, the final death knell for KIN, more ... View the full article

Supersite Google's Chrome OS is the most credible threat yet to Microsoft's dominance on the PC client, and a system that answers all of the key problems with Windows. How Microsoft responds to this threat will largely determine how Windows performs going forward. My worry is that the software giant won't move quickly enough. ... View the full article

Supersite In the latest episode of the Windows Weekly podcast, Tom Merritt and I discuss why the Dell Inspiron Duo is a dud, what happens when you call out Microsoft on its bad behavior, a new feature for the ever-in-beta IE 9, a big week for Google news, and a second round of holiday tech gift picks. ... View the full article

Supersite In this week's mailbag: An update on the SuperSite CMS update, whether Kindle offers decent eBook library organization, what it means to reset a Windows Phone, my recommended Call of Duty: Black Ops load-out for new gamers, how IE 9 should implement Do Not Track, and whether you can make podcast playlists with Zune/Windows Phone ... View the full article

Do you think it’s worth it for Steve Ballmer & Co. to try to go back to the negotiation table with Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg in the new year? Are there any other tech acquisitions you think Microsoft should be considering actively? View the full article

I care less about Microsoft executives’ continued refusal to share shipment number for Windows Phone 7 than I do about the company’s (hopefully reversible) decision to prevent partners from porting the phone OS to slates. View the full article

Supersite This week's Windows Phone 7 app of the week is AP Mobile, a great example of what happens when you combine a truly useful service from a respected news gathering organization with the unique and superior Metro user interface. ... View the full article

Supersite In Part 2 of my look at this week's Chrome event, I examine the Chrome Web Store, which provides three features still lacking in Windows and Internet Explorer: a way to electronically discover and install apps, an apps platform that automatically follows users from PC to PC, and an apps platform that seamlessly keeps each app up to date, instead of requiring the user to do it themselves. Are you starting to see why this is a big deal? ... View the full article

Windows IT Pro An often irreverent look at some of this week's other news, including a spurned Microsoft offer for Facebook, Google cries foul over a Microsoft contract with the USDA, Patch Tuesday, accelerated Windows Phone developer payments, another (barely) winning month for the Xbox 360, and some questionable Android activation numbers. ... View the full article

Google is introducing on December 9 a new cloud-email service that it is positioning as an ideal way for Exchange Server 2003 and 2007 users to back up their e-mail. View the full article

Microsoft execs have been crowing about the company’s big cloud win this week with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). What wasn’t clear from early reports was why the USDA went with Microsoft — beyond the appeal of Microsoft’s hosted application suite. View the full article

Supersite Tech news and tidbits of the day, from around the web, including Dell's surge back to number two, Galaxy Tab success, continued blogger confusion over what market share means, blogger linkbait, blogger copying, and more ... View the full article

Windows IT Pro Facebook co-founders Mark Zuckerberg and Dustin Moskovitz this week pledged to join more than 15 other US-based billionaires and give away at least half their fortunes. ... View the full article

Supersite Tech news and tidbits of the day, from around the web, including Palm's fate, Intel leadership, Netflix, Angry Birds, more. ... View the full article

Today’s (maybe not so) crazy Microsoft rumor involves Microsoft’s brick-and-mortar stores. I hope this one pans out and we get one here in New York City in 2011. View the full article

Supersite This week, Google announced new information about its Chrome web browser, Chrome Web App Store, and Chrome OS, a turning point in the online giant's war to wrest control of the general PC market from Microsoft. In the first part of my examination of these announcements, I look at the Chrome web browser and how it stacks up against Microsoft's IE 9 ... View the full article

Microsoft is making available this week a first beta of its Visual Studio 2010 Service Pack (SP) 1 release. View the full article

Microsoft began taking sign ups for its SQL Azure Reporting Services public test build on the same day that rival Salesforce unveiled its plans for a cloud database of its own. View the full article