With the exception of email, there are two applications most of us can't live without: an internet browser and a spreadsheet. With Microsoft's latest release of security patches, one must ask will they ever get it right? How does a small business manage their IT environment without constant fear?I'll be honest, I don't pay much attention to this stuff until I am on a deadline and my laptop freezes for some unfathomable reason. I feel my chest tighten and I think, oh my God, some criminal somewhere has hacked into my system, is downloading everything from my laptop, and I won't be back online for a week.

I read about the recent security issues with Vista and all I could think was "thank God I am running XP with Firefox". But, am I really safe?

I imagine every system manager is going through hell right now trying to get all their desktops updated. The only security MS really offers is job security for system managers and admins.

It makes me want to download OpenOffice again and give it a complete run through.