Microsoft Updates Office 2007 on Windows Vista

Users of the Microsoft 2007 Office System on Windows Vista have experienced problems when deploying the May 8 security bulletins affecting the company's productivity suite. This is why Microsoft has announced the introduction of an updated detection logic for Office 2007 on Windows Vista. Mark Griesi, Security program manager with the Security Response Communications Team, revealed that all the security and non-security updates for Office 2007 released this month, with the sole exception of the Junk Mail Filter update, have been retouched to resolve installation issues.

"It's important to note that there has been no change to the actual binaries in the updates themselves. If you have already successfully installed the updates using Microsoft Update, you will not be offered the update again. The updates will also be available through WSUS and SMS/ITMU. If you're an administrator of one of those systems, you will see new versions of the updates and will need to approve them. Approving these new updates should have no impact on machines that have already installed the previous updates successfully," Griesi stated.

Microsoft Security Bulletin MS07-023, Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Security Bulletin MS07-025, Vulnerability in Microsoft Office are the updates patched by Microsoft today, May 18. The Redmond Company has offered no explanation for the aberrant behavior of the security bulletins via Microsoft Update or Microsoft Windows Server Update Services (WSUS). Still, users should be advised that in isolated cases, the updates could have not been served at all or failed to install properly, but only in the context of Office 2007 running on Windows Vista.

"In some cases, the original detection logic may not have offered the updates or the updates may not have been installed successfully on systems running Windows Vista. The changes to the detection logic only pertain to MS07-023 and MS07-025. MS07-024 did not require an update since it doesn't affect Office 2007. So for those of you out there, such as myself, who are running Office 2007 on Windows Vista, please go ahead and install these updates if they are offered to you," Griesi added.