Microsoft will release critical updates for Windows 8 and other software on November's Patch Tuesday next week. The upgrades will arrive within weeks of the Win 8 launch at the end of last month.

All supported versions of the Windows operating system from XP SP3 up to and including Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 will need patching to close three security holes that enable hackers to execute malicious code remotely on vulnerable systems. The fourth critical patch will address a vulnerability in Internet Explorer 9 on Windows 7, Vista and Server 2008.

Two of the updates this month will also patch Windows 8 RT as used in Microsoft's new Surface tablet laptop fondletops.

Redmond's security gnomes have also lined up an "important" update that corrects a remote-code execution bug in Excel in Microsoft Office 2010, 2007 and 2003. A sixth update, labelled "moderate" in severity, prevents information leaking from Windows Vista, 7 and Server 2008.

More details, as usual, will be published by Microsoft after it releases its patches on Tuesday, 13 November. An advanced alert, with a full chart of all the version numbers of affected products, can be found here. ®