Microsoft are issuing a security patch related to this problem. Release is planned for Weds 17th December (1pm EST)

Mark, Sussex, United Kingdom

I would say the ridiculous cost is why people buy Windows PCs rather than Macintosh. Sure, Macs are great - I use them at work - but they are way to expensive for home use when money is tight.

I've used Windows at home for 10 years and never had a security problem. Be sensible, be secure.

Darren Ward, Manchester, UK

a bit of info about how people are tricked into visiting web sites might have been useful

alex, lymington,

Maybe its time to try Firefox. I have been using it for five years and have rarely seen any spware/malware on my system as a result. Whilst using IE I would usually end up with 100's of them every month. I cannot believe people are still using IE.

Ahmet Arikan, London, UK

I use IE 8 and think it is very fast. I downloaded Chrome today and did a side by side test on my (very fast) laptop and Chrome was no quicker.

I like some of the new features in IE 8 and I recommend people upgrade to it. I think it's faster than firefox too. I use Opera on my phone though.

Sol, London, UK

Strictly speaking, "zero-day attacks" etc. refers to attacks made <i>on the same day</i> a vulnerability is announced or becomes more or less widely known.

D Horst, Ontario CA, US

Has anybody ever considered using Firefox or Opera? They're both great, with Firefox having the edge. Given google's hunger for collecting user's preferences for commercial reasons wouldn't recommend Google Chrome

Will, Oxford,

When IBM released the original MVS mainframe operating system they were so confident of its security that they offered a reward to anyone who could break it.. The difference between a corporation and a garage.

Bill Peter, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The safest computer with Microsft Software on the net is the one that is still advertised. Once purchased, unpacked, booted and connected to the Inter-Web - in fact show it the phone socket - it's a major security flaw. 20+ years and Mirco$oft still cannot master the concepts of computer security.

Adrian Jones, Whitehill, GB

QUOTE "These threats occur as hackers race against software makers to attack the affected programmes, such as IE, before the known problems are repaired"

Honestly, read the article. Bob Schmidt has!

pat, Sheffield, UK

Microsoft still cant get it.. as said even after 23 years there are still major problems. Best advise is to get well away from their operating system and try Linux (ubuntu is a good example) you will never look back :o)

Malc, Colchester, UK

Don't switch to Chrome, it is barely out of beta testing! Firefox is a much safer choice and is immune to this particular problem.

Tony, Islington, London, UK

Yes as the Linux fan boys suggest move to Linux if you don't like games and applications because Linux hardly has anyway

John, Salford/Eccles, England

Sure, Firefox is safe as long as it's market share is so low. All the Firefox users trying to get IE users to switch could shoot themselves in the foot. If Firefox gets to be the dominant browser, the hackers will switch targets. Why target a product that can't get the majority of users?

Bob Schmidt, Memphis, USA

Microsoft must release the patch ahead of the monthly schedule to ensure the safety of their paying customers' . Only last month, a critical patch was released out-of-sequence because of the extreme risk to users
Fortunately there are alternative OS (Linux,Mac) that are far more secure. why use MS?

Faizal, London, UK

I find it incredible that people continue to buy Windows PCs and Microsoft software. They may be more stable, but they still present serious security issues. Even after 23 years of constant development.

E J Bull, Bristol, UK

Not all users of Internet Explorer are at risk. In fact, Linux-GNU users, who use IE to test website design, are safe. The risk is not merely in IE, but in the security "features" [read: flaws] of Windows.

So now is the perfect time to improve security by changing to Linux-GNU for safety.

Dan Fearnley, Oxford, UK

ii hope firefox3 is safe from such attacks- may we be told?

peter c, Devizes, Wessex