Microsoft has scaled back the number of patches it plans to release on Tuesday as part of its regular monthly security updates cycle. Instead of releasing eight patches (as previously planned) Redmond will only release four.

These patches will include a critical update for Windows and three involving Office, at least one of which is critical, according to Microsoft's revised advanced notice statement. It remains to be seen whether these fixes will resolve a trio of Word flaws, which have been left flapping since early December.

Microsoft's Security Response blog states that the software giant will be releasing only half the number of expected fixes without providing much of an explanation. In the past, Microsoft's decision to release a batch of fixes all at once has caused problems so perhaps its security gnomes have decided to concentrate on the most serious fixes first. Alternatively testing glitches might be behind a decision to delay some of the patches.

Either way we'll find out whether or not users have to wait for those important Word fixes by late Tuesday. ®

• MS skips March Patch Tuesday (9 March 2007)
• Microsoft's fat patch Tuesday (14 February 2007)
• MS plans 'dirty dozen' patch release (9 February 2007)
• MS January patch update omits critical Word fix (10 January 2007)
• IE 'unsafe' for 284 days last year (5 January 2007)
• Month of Apple bugs planned for January (20 December 2006)
• Three critical patches star in MS update (13 December 2006)
• Trojan targets unpatched Word flaw (again) (11 December 2006)
• Unpatched Word flaw menaces civilisation (6 December 2006)
• Windows Update glitches derail Patch Tuesday (11 October 2006)
• Microsoft flaw fix opens users to attack (24 August 2006)