The software maker's monthly batch even includes important fixes for Microsoft Vista Service Patch (I mean Pack) 1.As part of its routine, Microsoft today pre-announced the patches it plans to roll out during "Patch Tuesday," which is the second Tuesday of each calendar month.

In total, Microsoft is prepping five vulnerabilities it's ranked as "critical" (which is the most severe ranking) and three it's deemed as "important."

This month's round of patches seem to touch each one of its operating systems: Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows 2000, as well as Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008. And, of course, Internet Explorer gets some love tossed its way as well.

While vulnerabilities Microsoft rates as "important" can leave enterprises open to attack, it's those it has ranked as critical that can be remotely attacked. Remotely exploitable vulnerabilities are the kind of holes malware writers can use to target worms, crash system availability through denial-of-service attacks, or simply install nearly whatever software they wish and commandeer control over the un-patch system. Not to let Microsoft steal all of the vulnerability thunder this week, our friends at 1 Infinite Loop released fixes for no less than 11 security vulnerabilities for its Apple QuickTime media player for both Mac and Windows systems.