Microsoft is testing an early draft of its free antivirus software, codenamed Morro. It says a trial version will be publicly released “soon” but didn’t confirm a date.

It was already known this month’s ‘Patch Tuesday’ update would be the biggest of 2009. But with 31 fixes, 18 for problems ranked critical, it’s in fact the biggest of all time.

When Microsoft announced plans to inject $300 million into the Russian economy, cynics suggested it was an attempt to stave off the interest of competition officials. If that was the case, it appears to have failed.

If you use PowerPoint for Windows, this month’s Microsoft security update has important patches to fix a critical vulnerability. If you use the Mac edition of PowerPoint … good luck.

Microsoft is renaming its Windows Genuine Advantage anti-piracy system and adding several tweaks for Windows 7. The rebranding appears to be partially an attempt to overcome the negative feedback on  some elements of the scheme.

A security firm is complaining that Microsoft has failed to fix a security flaw dating back to before Windows XP. F-Secure notes that Windows 7 will continue a pattern of allowing hackers to disguise executable files as safer document files.

Microsoft has pulled the AutoRun feature for USB sticks from Windows 7 as a security measure. It’s a response to a tactic for spreading viruses which proved particularly successful for the Conficker virus.

Microsoft has released more details about the security measures it is adding in Windows 7. The focus is on finding a balance between security and ease of use for businesses which have workers computing on the move.

Mac users who run Windows applications through virtualization software could now be at risk from Windows-based security problems. A bug in several programs from VMWare allows the guest operating system (Windows) to run code on the host system (Mac OS), contrary to the intentions of such setups.

Windows Vista has come in for an awful lot of criticism since it was released, most of it justified, some not. But could it be that Vista as it is today is the most secure operating system available? Microsoft thinks so.

Microsoft has issued security fixes for 23 issues in its monthly update. The most striking note is that six bugs were already being actively exploited, and hackers appear to have already had a good idea how to exploit a further four.

Both Hotmail and Messenger have suffered as-yet-unexplained outages and other service problems. To make things worse, many users were greeted with an error message which wrongly claimed they would need to create a new account.

Microsoft says applications produced by other firms are now responsible for the majority of security problems on Windows PCs. It’s also suggested publicity about viruses could be fueling a rise in ’scareware’ scams involving bogus security software.

Security software is now more essential than ever, with more threats coming at us from all angles from the Internet. Microsoft is working on a new integrated security suite as part of its Forefront software. Unfortunately, Stirling, as it is currently codenamed, has been delayed.

Microsoft is warning users to take particular care opening suspicious PowerPoint documents. That’s because hackers are exploiting a flaw which hasn’t yet been patched by the firm.