Flawed Microsoft software is an unfortunate fact of life, but fixing the snags shouldn't be such a hassle. (Turn to News and Trends this month for a report on readers' complaints about patch headaches.)

Well, apparently, Microsoft officials feel our pain. The company recently made two changes in the way it issues patches. First, for XP users, the company released Update Rollup 1 for Windows XP, which consolidates a bunch of critical patches into a single patch. Second, Microsoft has begun posting a monthly patch summary, which supplies information on all the new fixes making the rounds.

You might argue that anything is an improvement over the current state of affairs, but I remain skeptical. You will still need to stay on top of all the updates that are not included in the roll-up; plus, the summary bulletins can often be vague or just difficult to understand.

A Super Patch?

The premiere roll-up compresses 17 separate security updates into a single download. This bundle of goodies will bring you up-to-date with all XP-specific security patches from the release of service pack 1 (November 21, 2001), up to September 10, 2003. The roll-up also includes some service pack 1 components and other nonsecurity fixes.

To grab the roll-up, visit Windows Update and look for a link labeled KB826939 on the list that appears. Or click here to get the patch. Remember, the roll-up does not correct flaws in IE, Outlook, Outlook Express, or Office, so you need to keep tabs on alerts related to these other apps.

Monthly Alerts

Microsoft thinks that a lot of the drudgery of finding and installing security patches will disappear, thanks to the company's monthly Security Bulletin Summary posting. These summaries give information regarding all of the security fixes released for the month, and they provide links to fixes. The bulletins also include workaround instructions, if they exist. If you have patch problems, you can now call Microsoft at 866/727-2338 to talk to a technician for free.

Microsoft is raising a lot of dust, but it's hard to tell how much of the innovation is useful and how much is hype.

Will the new patch processes make your life easier? Write to bugs@pcworld.com and let us know. And tell us if the phone support works out as promised, too.