Microsoft AutoUpdate for Office 2004

To determine whether there are available updates or patches for Microsoft Office 2004, launch the utility Microsoft AutoUpdate, which should be located in the Applications directory with Microsoft Office. You can either check for updates manually by clicking the Check for Updates button, or set AutoUpdate to automatically check on a regular basis. Available updates will be displayed, letting you choose whether or not to install them.

Numerous improvements for Office 2004. Available by download or through AutoUpdate.

System Requirements

Mac OS X v. 10.1 or later / PowerMac G3 or higher / 196 MB of space for default installation

Updates & Patches

Microsoft Office v. X 10.1.8 Update (released 10.10.2006)

This update addresses security and stability issues.

Microsoft Office 2001 SSL Security Updater

The update "addresses a security vulnerability that can enable an attacker who had a valid security certificate to issue an invalid subordinate certificate that would appear to be valid. This update also addresses a vulnerability in Word's field codes that could allow an attacker to maliciously use field codes and external updates to steal information from your computer without your knowledge. For more information about these vulnerabilities, see Microsoft Security Bulletins MS02-050 and MS02-059."

Microsoft Office 2001 Service Release 1 (4.21.2001)

Office 2001 SR 1 addresses a number of issues in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Entourage 2001. This patch often fails to fully install if the existing copy of Office 2001 has been modified (either by the user or by other applications). Performing a clean install of Office 2001 may be in order before updating with SR1.

Note: If you're not certain whether or not you already installed Service Release 1 on your computer, here's an easy way to check. Find the Microsoft Word executable file in your Microsoft Office 2001 folder. Select the application by clicking on it once and then select Get Info from the File menu. The small Info window that appears will tell you what version of Word you have installed. If you haven't installed SR-1, Word will be v. 9.0 (2510). After installing SR-1 it becomes v. 9.0.1 (3122).

Word 2001 Security Updater (6.5.2001)

Closes a security hole that could allow an RTF file attached to a template to launch macros in the template without warning the user which "...could cause damage to data or allow unauthorized retrieval of data from your system when you visit a Web site or open an e-mail message. This security update prevents macros from opening without a security warning. After you have installed the update, you will be warned before you open an RTF document that contains a template or macro."

PowerPoint/Excel 2001 Macro Security Update (10.4.2001)

The updater "addresses a vulnerability that could allow malicious code to run in a Microsoft Excel 2001 for Mac or Microsoft PowerPoint 2001 for Mac file without warning."

Entourage 2001-Hotmail Update (11.19.2001)

The update "addresses the following issues in Entourage 2001: Support for MSN Hotmail, Support for MSN mail accounts, and SMTP authentication."

1. Keep Windows up to date via windowsupdate.com.
2. Intall Symantec AntiVirus for Windows and keep its virus definitions current.
3. Use the freeware tool DCOMbobulator to disable DCOM/RPC, a rarely-used windows network service frequently exploited by internet worms.

Microsoft no longer supports Internet Explorer for the Mac. If you are still using IE, you should explore using a more current web browser like Safari or FireFox.

Microsoft is no longer developing Windows Media Player for Mac, though they still offer version 9 for download.

Microsoft now recommends the free Flip4Mac WMV Player which allows Macs to play Windows Media files within the QuickTime Player.

Version 2.0.1 is now available for download. Flip4Mac WVM v2.0.1 requires Mac OS X 10.3.9 or higher and QuickTime 6.5.1 or higher.