Spring Cleaning: 5 New Windows Patches Coming

Microsoft is alerting customers that it plans to release at least five new security fixes for Windows users next Tuesday. The company typically releases software patches on the second Tuesday of each month -- though it didn't issue any in March. On Tuesday it plans to release three "critical" (its most severe rating) updates for MSN Messenger, Microsoft Office, and Microsoft Exchange.

We'll have an update for you when we learn more from Microsoft. In the meantime, if you're a Windows user, you can make sure your machine has all the latest patches by regularly visiting Windows Update (that site will only work in Internet Explorer). If you want to let Microsoft download and install patches for you automatically when they become available, see Microsoft's instructions on how to enable automatic updates.

Here's the write-up I did on the batch of updates the company released in February.