Looking for a cool app that you can snap to the right or left and be able to easily translate words to and from various languages? Lingvo is a free app available for download and offers you instant access to high quality translation dictionaries.

“Lingvo gives you an instant access to high-quality translation dictionaries: Russian to English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Latin, Kazakh, Ukrainian, and back. A great app for easy reading, writing and learning. Internet connection is required to view translations and listen to audio pronunciations,” the app description reads.

There are dictionaries for nine different languages with the ability to search the app to get accurate and up to date translations. You can even listen to pronunciations to hear how the words will sound and you can even search for synonyms and antonyms. This app utilizes the Snap feature in Windows 8 so you can easily pin this app to the left or right of your screen while you work. Hit the download link below to grab this app for Windows 8 or Windows RT.

The Surface Pro, powered by Windows 8 Pro, was officially launched online at MicrosoftStore.com, as well as BestBuy and Staples on Febryary 9th, and within a few hours, the 128GB model of the Surface Pro was already sold out at Microsoft’s online store. Microsoft revealed that it was working to replenish supplies but now has offered a bit more detail on when we can see a Surface Pro device available for purchase in stores again.

“In the U.S., we are shipping additional units of the 64GB SKU to Best Buy, Staples and Microsoft Store now. We are shipping 128GB SKU later this week to retailers, with some units available by the end of the week. Our priority (and that of our retail partners) is to fulfill orders from customers who made a reservation first. Canada is following a similar timeline but may take an extra few days to start arriving,” Microsoft stated in an official blog post.

So there you have it. In the US, expect to see the 64GB Surface Pro in the next day or so, and 128GB models by the end of the week. If you are in Canada and hoping to snag a Surface Pro, you may be waiting a bit longer.

Today is February 12th, the day Microsoft releases security updates for this month’s Patch Tuesday. But for those who own a Surface RT, today is also the day Microsoft releases some non-security updates for Windows RT, including a fix for the pesky Connected Standby and WiFi issues that many users were experiencing.

As Microsoft has originally states, todays Patch Tuesday updates include a cumulative update that improves Surface WiFi reliability and connectivity. There is also an update to the bug that many users were reporting in regards to having problems downloading apps from the Windows Store. Windows RT would enter Connected Standby while updates were being downloaded from Windows Update, preventing users from downloading anything from the Windows Store.

There are also updates to address performance with the Windows, Volume, and Power buttons on the Surface RT, as well as improvements for Bluetooth audio playback quality and playback when users stream videos from Windows Media Center to Xbox consoles. Internet Explorer 10 will also see a security update addressing a Flash player vulnerability. If you are on a Windows RT device, head over to the Settings Charm, Change PC Settings, and check Windows Update.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates was on Reddit today in an Ask Me Anything session. During the session, Gates answered several questions regarding his work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, but also answered a few Microsoft related questions.

During the AMA session, Gates was asked if he owned a Surface Pro tablet. Gates responded by saying, “I just got my Surface Pro a week ago and it is very nice.” Gates also revealed that he uses an enormous (and expensive) Perceptive Pixel display, which is like a huge Windows 8 touch whiteboard:

Gates also revealed that WinFS was before its time. “We had a rich database as the client/cloud store that was part of a Windows release that was before its time. This is an idea that will remerge since your cloud store will be rich with schema rather than just a bunch of files and the client will be a partial replica of it with rich schema understanding.” For those that don’t know, WinFS is called Windows Future Storage and was supposed to make its debut during Windows Vista (codename Longhorn) but was postponed.

When asked if he preferred Windows 7 or Windows 8, Gates responded with a generic answer stating, “higher is better.” Another question came up asking if Gates really used Bing. His response? “Seriously Bing is the better product at this point. Try the challenge. I am biased but the work to make Bing better has been amazing.” Gates also mentioned that he has tried all of Apple’s products. “Microsoft does a lot of software for the Mac. I mostly use Windows machines but from time to time I have tried all of Apple products,” Gates explained. Gates also revealed that he would be involved in medicine or theoretical math if Microsoft never took off. “If the microprocessor had NOT come along I am not sure what I would have done. Maybe medicine or theoretical math but it is hard to say,” Gates responded.

You can hit the source to read the entire Bill Gates AMA session on Reddit, but we have highlighted the relevant Microsoft-related questions/answers here.

February 9th. The day the Surface with Windows 8 Pro was released and made available to the online Microsoft Store, as well as BestBuy and Staples. But February 9th is also the day the Surface Pro went out of stock (mostly the 128GB model), resulting in an out of stock crisis and frustrated customers.

“Customer response to the launch of Surface Pro has been amazing. We’re working with our retail partners who are currently out of stock of the 128GB Surface Pro to replenish supplies as quickly as possible. Our priority is to ensure that every customer gets their new Surface Pro as soon as possible,” Microsoft explained in an official blog post, hours after it was revealed that the Surface Pro 128GB was out of stock almost everywhere.

But frustration for the lack of stock has frustrated many potential buyers of the Surface Pro. When reading pretty much every comment that is made on every news report about the Surface Pro being sold out, the common consensus is that there just wasn’t that much of a quantity of Surface Pro devices available to be sold in the first place. With BestBuy and Staples having little to just one 128GB Surface Pro in stock, it makes you think about exactly what Microsoft had in mind. Why wouldn’t there be a plethora of Surface Pro devices available for consumers to purchase? As one angry consumer adds, this doesn’t show a lot of confidence in Microsoft’s product.

“Not exactly sure what happened, but hope Microsoft has enough respect for it’s customers to explain why essentially EVERY store across the nation is without a Surface Pro,” one consumer stated on the official Surface Pro blog.

“Hey I here you guys are looking for a PR director. I would have to guess you don’t have one after this mess. Oh, and a marketing distribution team. Seriously, how could you let this happen? I’m really hoping nobody there in Redmond said, “wait, let’s have just a few units shipped so we can gloat that we sold out.” Cause you know you’d get called out on that. Or did the snowstorm that had a convoy of trucks carrying 1.5 million units get held up? SOMETHING needs to be addressed. And silence only makes it worse. Please don’t belittle consumers with a “we’re working closely with our retailers to back fill stock.” At this point, the egg is on the face and you need to sweeten the pot with a free keyboard cover, or something. Make good on this guys. This is really bad. I want a pro, but more important, I want answers,” another consumer added.

“Your distribution model is a joke. I pre-ordered 5 of the 128GB surface pros at my local Best Buy. They got 0 to start with and do not know “if or when” they will be getting any. I called around to staples…they thought they might see their first ones on their Wednesday delivery truck. You guys seriously blew it and I am more than a little pissed. I would have pre-paid last year if given the option! Way to launch a product. Stocking 2-3units per store doesn’t show a lot of confidence in your product. I’ll wait until Wednesday and then I am moving on and buying something else for my staff,” another angry consumer stated.

Now, according to a recent report from Digitimes, Microsoft was only planning on having an initial shipment volume of one million Surface Pro units. This is obviously less than what Microsoft had planned with the Surface RT, which had an initial shipment volume of four million units. Could this be a factor in why the Surface Pro is already being sold out?

Another question is, how long will we have to wait before these retail outlets are fully stocked again? Hey Microsoft, we need answers!

Microsoft has launched a new website at Scroogled.com to help consumers “have their voice heard” and to get the message to Google that going through personal email messages to sell advertisements is unacceptable. This is yet another anti-Google campaign from Microsoft.

“Today, Outlook.com launched Don’t Get Scroogled by Gmail, a national campaign at https://www.scroogled.com to educate Americans about Google’s practice of going through the contents of all Gmail emails to sell and target ads,” Microsoft stated in an official press release. Microsoft continues to encourage users to switch over to Outlook.com for better privacy. According to Microsoft, Google goes through your personal Gmail messages and uses that information to target and sell advertisements. If you head over to scroogled.com, Microsoft mentions that “Outlook.com prioritizes your privacy. You won’t see ads based on keywords from your personal email.” Microsoft also offers up examples as well as two different studies that shows how Google “scroogles” its email users. Hit the source link to read Microsoft’s official press release regarding the new campaign.

In a Reddit “ask me almost anything” question and answer session, Microsoft’s Surface team answered a barrage of questions regarding the upcoming Surface Pro device. One of the questions asked was in regards to installing any other operating system on the Surface Pro. Microsoft’s answer? You can do it!

“For the Surface Pro….is the boot loader unlocked? Can I do what I want with my (potential) property? Or am I locked in to Windows 8?” a question that Microsoft’s Surface team was asked. Microsoft suggested turning off secure boot in the device’s BIOS to load any other operating system. “Like other Windows 8 machines, you can access BIOS settings and turn off secure boot, enabling you to load other OSes,” Microsoft replied. For those who are not familiar with Secure Boot, the idea is pretty simple. Since the boot process is vulnerable to attacks or malicious loaders due to the fact that they can remain undetected to the operating system security measures and anti-malware software, Secure Boot ensures that only properly signed and authenticated components are allowed to execute. In other words, the system knows what files are being loaded by Windows 8 before you even reach the login screen.

This is great news and opens up a wide variety of possibilities for the hacker/developer community. While it should come as no surprise, considering that the Surface Pro is a full fledged computer, just in a different form factor, the ability to have a different operating system should be well accepted by those who want to use something other than Windows 8. It will be interesting to see what sorts of reports and videos surface (no pun attended) showing the Surface Pro running Linux or any other operating system aside from Windows 8.

Microsoft has revealed today that the company plans on opening five new Microsoft Stores across the United States, and one of those locations includes Hawaii. These five new stores are set to open in the coming weeks.

“Our customers continue to tell us that they value our stores for connecting them to the best of Microsoft. This delights us to no end. From the newest touchscreen laptops, desktops, and tablets running Windows 8, to Windows Phones, to Xbox and Kinect consoles and accessories, to a wide array of first and third-party software titles, our goal is to introduce you to the best choice, value and service we have to offer,” Microsoft stated in an official blog post.

So where are the new stores located?

• Natick Mall, Natick, Massachusetts
• Ala Moana Center, Honolulu, Hawaii
• Pioneer Place, Portland, Oregon
• The Somerset Collection, Troy, Michigan
• Woodfield Mall, Schaumburg, Illinois

According to Digitimes, Microsoft is only planning on having an initial shipment volume of one million Surface Pro units. This is obviously less than what Microsoft planning with the Surface RT, which had an initial shipment volume of four million units.

“Microsoft’s Windows 8 Pro-based Surface tablet, which is set to release on February 9, will only have an initial shipment volume of one million units, far lower than the four million shipments of the company’s Surface RT tablet when launched, according to sources from the upstream supply chain,” the report stated. If this report is true, is Microsoft not expecting a high demand for the Surface Pro? Or will the Surface Pro be sold out in a matter of hours during its launch on February 9th?

Pricing will start at $899 and will be available in 64GB and 128GB versions. Also, a Surface Pen will be included with the Surface Pro, which allows you to draw with your device! You can read a list of full specs for the device here.

MetroStore Scanner, a free tool available to everyone online, is now reporting that there are over 40,000 apps in the Windows Store, for both Windows 8 and Windows RT, as well as different languages. This is an amazing feat for Microsoft but should we be impressed by the quantity of apps rather than quality?

While many will clap their hands towards Microsoft for achieving over 40,000 apps in the Windows Store, we should really take a step back and look at exactly what types of apps are available in the Windows Store and if we should be impressed by the quantity over quality aspect of the Windows Store.

For example, an app called “Foul Bachelor Frog” which shares its wisdom to you. Should this even be called an app? (see image below)

Another question to ask is how many times are we going to see the same app over and over again? Does Microsoft actively check the Windows Store to weed out “spam” apps or duplicate apps submitted to different categories? For example, lets take a look at an app that appears numerous times but under a different name (see if you can spot it):

This begs the question, is having over 40,000 apps in the Windows Store an impressive milestone or should we laugh at the number and expect Microsoft to do something about the countless number of unnecessary apps in the Windows Store. In my opinion, the success of the Windows Store is dependent on the number of quality apps, rather than just the number of apps available in the Windows Store. Then again, what qualifies as an “app” in Microsoft’s mind? Is it JavaScript/XAML code with fancy transitions wrapped into a nice little package so one can use it on Windows 8 or Windows RT and call it an app? Perhaps my idea of what an app should be is wrong. Here I am fixated on the idea that an app should be something productive and useful, like a news reader app or an app that makes your day-to-day tasks easier. Maybe I am confusing an app with an application. Even Microsoft has admitted in a recent earnings call that they “clearly have more work to do” when it comes to the Windows Store. In fact, “We need more rich, immersive apps that give users access to content that informs, entertains, and inspires,” Microsoft’s CFO Peter Klein recently mentioned. Regardless, should we be impressed by the 40,000 app milestone? I for one am not impressed by this number.

Office 2013, which had finally hit RTM (Release to Manufacturing) back in early October of 2011, was expected to be released during the first quarter of 2013. Now, that day is finally upon us as Microsoft officially launched Office 2013 and Office 365 in the United States. Office 2013 brings a new touch friendly design for use with the company’s Windows 8 operating system.

“Today’s launch of Office 365 Home Premium marks the next big step in Microsoft’s transformation to a devices and services business. This is so much more than just another release of Office. This is Office reinvented as a consumer cloud service with all the full-featured Office applications people know and love, together with impressive new cloud and social benefits,” Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer stated. Take a look at the two promo videos below:

Microsoft recently put up a teaser site for Office 365 revealing the release date to be January 29th. For those in the United States, Office 2013 Home and Student will cost $139.99 and does not come with Outlook 2013. Office 2013 Home and Business will run for $219.99, and Office 2013 Professional will run for $399.99. Office 365 Home Premium will run for $99.99 per year (or $8.33 per month), while Office 365 Small Business Premium will run for $149.99 per year per user (or $12.50 per month per user). Office 365 University will also be available for $79.99 for a four year subscription. Microsoft will be releasing Office 365 for businesses on February 27th.

Office 365 Home Premium seems like the perfect choice, as it offers a $99.99 per year subscription with access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher, and Access. On top of that, you can get up to five installs on your PC or Mac. Users will also get 20GB of additional SkyDrive cloud storage to save their files and access them anywhere, as well as 60 minutes of Skype calls per month.

Microsoft would like to remind users about cyber criminals who attempt to take advantage of users who are aware of Java security alerts by creating fake virus alerts that force you to download malicious software, including malicious anti-virus software.

“In the case of the fake Java updates, cyber criminals are taking advantage of news about security vulnerabilities in Java and recommendations to update Java immediately. We agree that if you use Java on your device you should update it directly from the Oracle website,” Microsoft warns users. There has been several reports about security alerts for Java in the recent months. Since Java is commonly used, cyber criminals often target users by claiming that their computer or device is at risk, forcing users to click a link to download malicious software. Microsoft recommends that Java users get their Java updates directly from Oracle or simply turn on automatic updates for Java, to avoid any problems.

This time last year, Microsoft got word of fake antivirus programs that disguised themselves as official security software. “For some time now, rogue security programs have been trying their hardest to look just like Microsoft security products. I suppose they figure that the more they look like us, the more likely unsuspecting users are to hand over their hard earned cash to have their computers “cleaned” by these imposters,” Microsoft stated in an official blog post back in January 2012. Microsoft’s security products such as Security Essentials, Safety Scanner, and Windows Defender are all available for free. Therefore, if you see such a product asking for credit card information, don’t do it. Secondly, Microsoft would never create a popup that comes up every 30 seconds telling you to buy the malicious security program. Once you see something like this occur, you have most likely been infected. It’s a dangerous world out there on the internet, so stay safe everyone!

A new video has surfaced highlighting the new products and services that Microsoft has dished out over the past year. This video is a montage of all the new products and services. Products and services include Windows Phone 8, Surface, Windows 8, Xbox SmatGlass, and Outlook. The video even features music from Girls Aloud (Something New). Grab a cup of coffee and check out the video below!

Ever heard of “choice overload?” In an official blog post, Microsoft’s Matt Wallaert, who calls himself a behavioral scientist at Bing, has begun a new series of blog posts called “Bing Your Brain.” The idea behind these blog posts is to reinforce to users that Bing is a better search engine.

So what exactly is choice overload? “Eight years ago, social psychologist Barry Schwartz gave an influential TED on “The Paradox of Choice”: that even though it seems like more choices should always be better, we are actually less happy when we have too many choices. This is because of a phenomenon psychologists call choice overload and if you’ve ever stood in the salad dressing aisle at your local supermarket, you know exactly what it is,” Microsoft explained in an official blog post.

Wallaert mentions three reasons that make us unhappy. First, choice overload results in post-decisional regret, sometimes called buyer’s remorse. Second, too many options means our searches take longer. Third, a big choice usually ends up in us giving up completely. “It is like looking at a line of people outside a theater and leaving because you feel like you’ll just never get inside; too much choice can cause us to abandon the things that we truly want,” Microsoft explains.

Microsoft reinforces that friends and experts are the key in making decisions, touting the search engine’s integration with Facebook social sidebar feature. Hit the source link to read more on choice overload.

It seems the hacking community for the HCT HD2 device doesn’t die, as today more shots of Windows RT running on the device emerged on Twitter, revealing support for 480×800 resolution.

The shots appeared on Twitter, along with information that Windows RT works great with a resolution of 480×800. There was a bit of reworking that needed to be done within a system file to get the 480×800 resolution, but after that it just worked. They also said Metro apps open in 6 seconds, which is fast, especially for the specs of the phone. Also, WLAN is also almost working on the device too.

We’re not sure how long it’s going to be before Windows RT is fulling working on the HTC HD2, if ever. It is amazing to see a practically full version of Windows running on a phone though!

Thanks to Windows 8, Microsoft has earned $5.88 billion in revenue during Q4 of 2012 in just the Windows Division. In fact, that’s a 24% increase in revenue from the prior year period. Microsoft also revealed that the company has earned $21.5 billion in total revenue for the quarter ending in December of 2012.

“Our big, bold ambition to reimagine Windows as well as launch Surface and Windows Phone 8 has sparked growing enthusiasm with our customers and unprecedented opportunity and creativity with our partners and developers. With new Windows devices, including Surface Pro, and the new Office on the horizon, we’ll continue to drive excitement for the Windows ecosystem and deliver our software through devices and services people love and businesses need,” Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer stated. Microsoft re-iterated that the company has sold over 60 million Windows 8 licenses so far. Microsoft can go ahead and thank you for purchasing Windows 8 and creating the 24% increase in revenue for the Windows Division!

Microsoft’s Business Division, on the other hand, earned $5.69 billion in revenue, a 10% decrease from the prior year period. The Online Services Division reported revenue of $869 million, an 11% increase from the prior year period. Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices Division posted revenue of $3.77 billion, a decrease of 11% from the prior year period.

Microsoft has put up a new video on it’s YouTube channel promoting Internet Explorer 10. The video shows off some of the popular trends of the 1990s in an attempt to tell you that IE has grown up over the years. “You grew up. So did we. Reconnect with the new Internet Explorer,” the video description reads. Check out the video!

It appears that the Surface RT is facing another connectivity issue, aside from the recent WiFi issue that was brought up. This time, some Surface RT users are having issues with connecting to Windows Update. Microsoft is already looking into this and hopefully this is fixed in the next round of updates.

“After applying the patches this Tuesday my Surface RT will not connect to Windows Update. It gets stuck on the progress circle after selecting Windows Update from PC Settings and the circle eventually stops…. When I go to PC settings to check Windows Update I get a spinning progress circle of dots. It never gets to the point where you can select check for updates. If I reboot and check updates, all is well,” one Surface RT user posted on Microsoft’s support forums. Several Surface RT owners are already posting their complaints about this issue on the support forums. Microsoft is already looking into this and hopefully an update is provided soon.

Microsoft released a firmware update during this month’s Patch Tuesday (January 8th). The firmware update provided System Firmware (UEFI) improvements and features improvements to audio playback when in Connected Standby and additional capabilities for handling firmware updates during low battery situations. Unfortunately, January’s firmware update did not resolve an ongoing issue with the device’s WiFi feature and several users became upset and made their feelings publicly known on Microsoft’s support forums.

If you need dictionary or translation support that is unobtrusive, and optimized for Windows 8 and Windows RT, Sidebar Dictionary might be exactly what you’re looking for.

Sidebar Dictionary is a great tool for those who need dictionary or translator support when reading and/or writing while online. Minimalist in design, the app can be minimized to the sidebar on either side of the screen. Although text can entered manually using Sidebar Dictionary’s edit function, it’s typically not necessary to do so. Users simply tap or left click to highlight a word, copy it, and then tap or click anywhere in Sidebar Dictionary’s interface for the word’s definition and/or translation to be displayed.

The app also offers text to voice support, and provides translations for nine languages. English, Spanish, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), German, French, Italian, Korean, and Japanese. In the settings, the user can change the language, clear the screen, watch a brief tutorial, disable the clipboard capture, and change the theme from light to dark or vice versa.

So, there you have it, Sidebar Dictionary, a simple but powerful dictionary and translator. It’s in the Windows Store, check it out!

Microsoft’s co-founder and Chairman Bill Gates recently mentioned during an interview that he had no use for money. In fact, Gates wants to take the wealth that he has and give it back to the world. Gates is focusing on “getting the resources out to the poorest in the world.”

“I’m certainly well taken care of in terms of food and clothes. Money has no utility to me beyond a certain point. Its utility is entirely in building an organisation and getting the resources out to the poorest in the world,” Gates stated during an interview. “We’re focused on the help of the poorest in the world, which really drives you into vaccination. You can actually take a disease and get rid of it altogether, like we are doing with polio,” Gates adds.

Gates explains that the vast majority of his money (95%) goes to the Gates Foundation. In fact, the Foundation will spend all of that money within 20 years after Bill and Melinda gates are no longer around. Gates co-founded Microsoft alongside Paul Allen back in 1975 and left the CEO position back in January of 2000. In 2006, Gates announced that he would play a part-time role at Microsoft and the majority of his attention to his Foundation and philanthropic efforts.

Looking for a Metro-styled text editor for your Windows 8 or Windows RT system, which allows you to do basic functions such as find, replace, save as, etc. Notepad Classic is a free app available in the Windows Store which offers the classic Notepad experience on your touch device.

“Do you ever wish for a simpler time when the a text editor was just a text editor – well travel back to those fantastic times, now in a amazing new UI, with Notepad Classic,” the app description reads. Notepad Classic supports everything that Notepad does, such as find, replace, save, as well as the ability to adjust display settings such as font size, font color, background color, and on-screen touch keyboard support! Notepad Classic even offers a spell checker!

This app is free and available in the Windows Store. Hit the download link below to grab it.

According to AV-Test, an independent testing lab in Germany, Microsoft’s Security Essentials security software failed a certification test for the second time. In fact, Microsoft Security Essentials 4.1 failed to earn certification by just one point.

“During November and December 2012 we continuously evaluated 25 home user security products using their default settings. We always used the most current publicly-available version of all products for the testing. They were allowed to update themselves at any time and query their in-the-cloud services. We focused on realistic test scenarios and challenged the products against real-world threats. Products had to demonstrate their capabilities using all components and protection layers,” AV-Test stated on their website.

AV-Test publishes test results every two months and usually looks at 25 different consumer antivirus security programs. Three security programs failed certification, including PC Tools Internet Security 2012, AhnLab Internet Security 8.0, and Microsoft Security Essentials 4.1. The top scoring software programs included Bitdefender Internet Security 2013,
F-Secure Internet Security 2013, Kaspersky Internet Security 2013, Norton Internet Security 2013, and Trend Micro Titanium Maximum Security 2013.

Microsoft’s Security Essentials, which is free for those who didn’t know, lacked protection against 0-day malware attacks and detection of a representative set of malware discovered in the last 2-3 months, according to the test results. You can view the full test results here.

UPDATE: Microsoft has issued a statement regarding the test results here. “We continually evaluate and look at ways to improve our processes. We know from feedback from customers that industry testing is valuable, and their tests do help us improve,” the company stated.

Looking for a simple Pong game for your Windows 8 or Windows RT device? Metro Pong not only gives you the classic Pong experience but also allows you to play with two players by placing your device on a surface. Pretty cool game for those who want to use their Surface RT as a Pong board.

“A simple pong game. The intent is to play 2-player on a touch device laying flat on a surface, one player on either end. Includes buttons to pause, slow down, and speed up,” the app description reads. Metro Pong also has sounds when the paddle is used. The app is free and available for download by clicking the Windows Store link below.

A malicious JavaScript was found exploiting a recent found vulnerability in Internet Explorer 6, Internet Explorer 7, and Internet Explorer 8, while Internet Explorer 9 and Internet Explorer 10 are not affected. The zero day flaw came to light after the Council on Foreign Relations website was hacked and was hosting the code as early as December 21st.

Microsoft released a temporary Fix-it patch for IE6, IE7, and IE8 to mitigate risk of being attacked by a infected website nearly two weeks ago and now the company is finally offering a full-fledged security update to fix the remote code execution vulnerability in the older Internet Explorer browsers.

“We recommend that you install this update as soon as it is available. This update for Internet Explorer 6-8 will be made available through Windows Update and our other standard distribution channels. If you have automatic updates enabled on your PC, you won’t need to take any action. If you applied the Fix it released in Security Advisory 2794220, you won’t need to uninstall it before applying the security update,” Microosft explained in an Advanced Notification post.

Microsoft is releasing this patch outside its normal monthly Patch Tuesday cycle and claims to have only seen a limited number of Internet Explorer users affected by this issue. This update will be available January 14th around 1PM Pacific Time.