Microsoft re-issues Outlook 2007 update after Dec. blunder

Computerworld - Nearly a month after it yanked an Outlook 2007 update over connection and performance problems, Microsoft this week re-released the patch to correct its mistakes.

Microsoft re-issued the Outlook 2007 update on Tuesday, saying it had addressed the problems with connecting to mail servers, sluggish folders and automatic archiving that surfaced almost immediately after the original fix was offered to users Dec. 14.

The company pulled the update from its patch service two days later and apologized for the gaffe.

In a post to the Office team's blog, Microsoft urged users to retrieve the reworked update via Windows Update, or by manually downloading the new version from its site.

Several users said that the new patch solved their problems.

"This new version seems to work correctly," said someone identified as "alspar" on the Microsoft support forum.

"It works perfectly on my Windows 7 64-bit rig," added "Perauak" on Wednesday. "No more slow folder switching or archive/auto-archive issues."

Microsoft has pulled the plug on updates before. In April, it retracted a patch for Windows 2000 -- which at the time was still supported -- over what it called "quality issues." And in early 2008, the company yanked an update designed to prep Windows Vista for Service Pack 1 (SP1) after users flooded support forums with tales of endless reboots.

The Outlook 2007 update was re-issued the same day Microsoft patched three vulnerabilities in Windows, including a critical bug that hackers can exploit by tricking people into visiting malicious Web sites.

Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld. Follow Gregg on Twitter at @gkeizer or subscribe to Gregg's RSS feed . His e-mail address is gkeizer@computerworld.com.

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