Microsoft's Update Tuesday update to address critical bugs

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Microsoft will patch two critical vulnerabilities in this month's Patch Tuesday (or Update Tuesday as it has been recently renamed), one of which concerns all current versions of Internet Explorer, from v8 to v11.

Nine bugs will be targeted in the update with three allowing remote code execution on Microsoft's web browser and Windows. The rest either provide the attacker with an elevation of privilege or allows them to bypass security features.

Applications affected include Microsoft Office and Microsoft Server. Windows 8.1 update 1 will be mandatory for these updates which means that existing Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 users will have to install several patches prior to the latest update.

• Get the low down on Windows 9

Today's update will also bring a number of non-security related features - like touchpad improvements and better Miracast support. Bundling together feature and security updates and rolling them out gradually means that Microsoft will not release a Windows 8.1 Update 2 this year.

Instead, the software giant will focus on the next iteration of its operating system, Threshold or Windows 9.

Arch-rivals Apple and Google prefer to launch new versions of their desktop and mobile operating systems roughly every year (rather than every three or four years for Microsoft).