Microsoft customers should brace for an onslaught of security updates. As part of a monthly patching cycle, the software maker plans to release on Tuesday a dozen security bulletins with fixes for flaws. Nine of the bulletins address problems in Windows, two relate to Office and one to the Exchange email server software. At least one of the Windows and one of the Office alerts is deemed "critical," Microsoft’s highest risk rating, the company said in a notice posted on its Web site Thursday.

Back in their days on Harvard Yard, college buddies Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer used to blow off classes in favor of marathon poker games. With Office 2007, it looks like they’re reliving those glory days. Microsoft is making a huge bet that its customers are ready for a massive upgrade to Office and are willing to pay for the privilege.

The Secretary of the Department of Veteran Affairs, R. James Nicholson, will announce a VA-wide recall of all laptop computers June 8 in a 10:00 a.m. hearing at the House of Representatives Government Reform Committee. According to Rick Weidman, executive director for Policy & Government Affairs, this recall will cover every laptop computer in the agency. Weidman said that in meetings he had with Nicholson Wednesday evening this recall was not mentioned to him or to others in the veterans’ community; however, he said that his office was notified this morning.

Microsoft has dropped a feature from Windows Vista that would have allowed people running the new operating system to keep data synchronized among multiple PCs. The software maker said quality concerns were behind the decision to drop the feature, which allowed people to keep files up-to-date across multiple Vista machines.

Microsoft has vowed to better disclose the actions of its antipiracy tool once it is installed on Windows PCs. The tool, called Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications, is designed to validate whether a copy of Windows has been legitimately acquired. However, it also checks in with Microsoft on a daily basis, the company confirmed Wednesday. This has alarmed some people, such as Lauren Weinstein, a civil liberties activist, who likened it to spyware.

After months of limited testing, Microsoft late Wednesday made a beta version of Windows Vista publicly available for download. The company kicked off what it called its "Customer Preview Program," a testing period in which the software maker hopes millions of tech enthusiasts will kick the tires on the new operating system.

Microsoft will use its annual Tech Ed conference to be held in Boston the week of June 12 to publish the new Windows Server System Common Engineering Criteria for infrastructure software produced in 2007. Among the new criteria are improved feedback platform for users, IPv6 support, Web services adoption, improved diagnostics, identity and access management, support for the security configuration wizard, native x64-bit support, and a standardized content model for printed documentation as well as online information.

Two new security-themed projects have been added to Microsoft’s Live Labs research stable. The two beta projects–Microsoft Live Labs Security Token Service and Microsoft Live Labs Relay Service–indicate a big push by the Redmond software vendor to churn out experiments in computer security field. Live Labs, launched in January 2006 as a new Microsoft research facility for developing "Internet-centric" features, is headed by former Yahoo researcher Dr. Gary Flake.

On May 23, Bill Gates announced the public availability of the 2007 Microsoft Office System beta 2. Naturally, we immediately dived in and started working with Office Outlook 2007. You can download the beta and check it out yourself if you like, or if you just want an idea of what the next version of our favorite application is like, read this article.

Read this OutlookPower article.

Microsoft on Tuesday named Jeff Bell as global marketing chief for its Interactive Entertainment Business group, giving the software maker more firepower to promote its Xbox and Games for Windows products. Bell, vice president of product strategy for DaimlerChrysler’s Chrysler Group, will assume his new position June 12. While at Chrysler, Bell was noted for pushing the automaker into video games and online marketing.