June’s lone critical bulletin addresses a remote code execution vulnerability. Multiple versions of Internet Explorer and Windows will be affected.

This month’s four important bulletins will address vulnerabilities with information disclosure, denial of service, remote code execution and elevation of privilege. These fixes will affect multiple versions of Windows and Microsoft Office.

June has a markedly lighter number of bulletins than what admins have seen in recent months. May’s Patch Tuesday had ten patches and brought the yearly total of patches up to 45, a noticeable increase from the same point in 2012.

What do you think of this month’s patches? Let us know in the comments on this post, or on Twitter @SearchWinServer.

Over the last few months, our readers have been interested in deduplication, GUI, System Center 2012 and Microsoft’s IaaS platform.

May: Ten fixes come in Patch Tuesday as totals increase from last year
May’s Patch Tuesday had ten total bulletins, including two critical fixes for Internet Explorer. Eight important fixes came for Visio, Essentials, Office, Windows Server and .NET Framework. May’s patches bring the yearly total up to 45, an increase from 35 patches at this point in 2012.

April: IT shops seek cloud strategies from Windows Azure Infrastructure Services
Amazon Web Services may be getting the boot from IT shops. Customers can sign up for a free trial of Microsoft’s IaaS platform, which has been built to be a reliable alternative to AWS with core improvements and cuts in cost.

March: Windows Server 2012 deduplication: seven things to know 
When it comes to demands for data storage, deduplication can make a difference. But there are seven things admins should know about deduplication before they plan to implement that technology.

February: Skip the GUI in Windows Server 2012
There are plenty of good reasons to keep the Modern UI when you work in Windows Server 2012, but there are ways for admins to work around it. Some options include moving tools to the desktop and bringing back the Start menu with third-party apps.

January: System Center 2012 SP1 hits general availability 
Admins looking for Windows Server 2012 and SQL Server 2012 support could finally get it after System Center 2012 SP1 became generally available. There were also fixes for bugs in the suite of management products as well as a new version of Windows Intune.

What Windows Server content has been most helpful for you? Let us know in the comments on this post, or on Twitter @SearchWinServer. 

The MAP Toolkit — which is used to securely evaluate IT environments for platform migrations — includes multiple updates and improvements, including hardware to plan for Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 deployments.

One new feature is an updated user interface, which Microsoft says will make it easier for admins to choose the migration scenario best suited for the tasks at hand.

The company says MAP 8.5 Beta can ready IT environments for Office 365 and Office 2013. It can also be used for tracking Windows Server, Exchange, Lync and SharePoint usage and preparing to migrate to Windows Azure virtual machines.

Another update to the tool, Windows Volume Licensing, can identify workstation licensing status. There are also changes to the tool’s VM discovery and inventory capabilities.

MAP 8.5 Beta is available for download here on Microsoft’s Connect website.

The update to Microsoft’s security assessment tool, which is noted for being a cost-effective security option for enterprises, comes roughly five months after the release of MAP Toolkit 8.0.

There are ten bulletins in the advance notification for May. Two are marked critical and eight are marked important.

May’s two critical bulletins address remote code execution vulnerabilities and affect multiple Windows Server versions, as well as Internet Explorer.

The important bulletins address vulnerabilities with denial of service, spoofing, information disclosure, elevation of privilege and remote code execution. Windows, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Windows Essentials and .NET Framework are affected.

April’s Patch Tuesday included 13 patches to address multiple vulnerabilities, including critical fixes for Remote Desktop Protocol and IE. Microsoft later recalled one of the security updates after receiving reports of failing applications and systems not recovering after failure.

What do you think of this month’s patches? Let us know in the comments on this post, or on Twitter @SearchWinServer.

The company posted an advance notification for an out-of-cycle patch Monday morning ahead of its release at 1 p.m. Eastern time. Microsoft recommends that admins apply the update as soon as possible and notes that the workaround tool provided in December does not need to be disabled during the patch.

This comes after reports that security researchers had found a hole in the “Fix it” tool, leading to speculation during last week’s Patch Tuesday that a fix would be released before February.

Microsoft notes that only older — and more widely used — versions of Internet Explorer needed the fix, so upgrading to IE 9 or IE 10 would also mitigate any threat related to this flaw.

Whoever ultimately ends up in Microsoft’s corner office promises to change the face of computing for better or worse in the years to come.

The executive, 20-year company veteran Craig Mundie, will retire in 2014 when he turns 65. In the meantime, he will serve as senior advisor to Ballmer.

What may be most important in shakeups like this one, however, is often not who leaves but who stays.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates named Ray Ozzie and Mundie in 2006 to replace himself, when he left his day-to-day role at the company. Ozzie, who had founded Lotus and has the respect of both businesspeople and developers alike, had visions of a “meshed” world where all of a user’s information is available on any device, anywhere, any time. His job title was chief software architect, Gates’ former title.

Though not often mentioned these days, Ozzie also championed Windows Azure, Microsoft’s public cloud offering, before leaving the software giant in 2010.

Mundie, meanwhile, has held the title of chief research and strategy officer, which included oversight of Microsoft Research (MSR) as well as performing the role of the company’s policy liaison to domestic and international institutions and governments.

Perhaps most notably, however, Mundie’s replacement will be another 20-year Microsoft veteran, Eric Rudder, who recently received the title of chief technical strategy officer. Overseeing MSR is one of his new responsibilities as well as Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing initiative.

What’s more, until a few years ago Rudder was one of a handful of Microsoft senior executives on what was considered the shortlist to replace Ballmer when he retires. But the presumed front runner for the past several years was Steven Sinofsky, the vice president responsible for launching Windows 8 in October, Windows 7 three years ago, and head of Office for more than a decade. He departed Microsoft — some say he was pushed out — almost immediately after last fall’s launch.

For several years, Rudder’s star seemed to be in decline after a stellar start as chairman Bill Gates’ technical assistant. Over the years, Rudder also has garnered broad experience in both the technical and business aspects of running growing tech businesses. His job roles have included senior vice president of server and tools — today, still one of the anchors of the company’s nearly $70 billion bottom line. He missed several promotions though and virtually dropped out of sight.

Rudder is respected by both business and technical people, and he has a general good temperament — not aggressive or confrontational like Ballmer and Gates before him.

The reshuffling was outlined in a memo sent in mid-December by Ballmer, a copy of which was obtained by TechTarget. The story went public earlier this week in published reports that cited changes made to online biographies for Mundie and Rudder on Microsoft’s executive bios site.

Microsoft and Rudder aren’t saying if he would get the nod, or whether he would even want the chief executive’s title.

Of course, Rudder isn’t the only name floated by company observers as a possible replacement for Ballmer, when the day comes. One rumored candidate for the job is Kevin Turner, Microsoft’s chief operating officer.

In contrast to Rudder, however, Turner does not come from a primarily technology background — but rather from retail. Before joining Microsoft, Turner logged almost 20 years at consumer giant Wal-Mart. Because of that perception that he’s more of a bean counter than an inspiring technological leader, many employees think of Turner as CEO as potentially ruinous.

But at this point, Rudder’s star seems it may on the rise again as the company begins to redefine and reposition itself to focus on business customers, or on consumers, or possibly even a combination of the two. What course is best for IT customers is an open question.

Who would you pick to replace Steve Ballmer?

Not satisfied with releasing 2012 editions of Windows Server and desktop Windows to manufacturing, Microsoft has revamped its logo for the first time in 25 years.

In a post on Microsoft’s corporate blog, Jeff Hansen explained the rationale for the new logo, saying it “takes its inspiration from our product design principles while drawing upon the heritage of our brand values, fonts and colors.”

Reflecting the new design of OS (but don’t call it Metro) in its server, phone and desktop, the waving Windows flag is replaced by four square tiles. In fact, the logo might make one want to play the beloved childhood game or check in somewhere.

This puts another notch in Microsoft’s belt this summer.  It seems like every week this summer, Microsoft has divulged or announced plans for something new. The company is aware of that fact, too: Frank X. Shaw, vice president of corporate communications, posted on the company’s blog that the company is setting a “blistering pace.”

What do you think of the new logo? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter @SearchWinServ. 

The changes, first reported by Mary Jo Foley, reflect mostly title changes. Satya Nadella still leads the Server and Tools division.

Azure platform corporate vice president Scott Guthrie is now a CVP of program management within the division. Brad Anderson is also alongside Guthrie as a CVP of program management.

Jason Zander, who was the Visual Studio lead, now heads up development with Bill Laing as CVPs.

Bharat Shah is listed as the corporate vice president of test and engineering systems. Craig Fleischman is now the partner director of test and engineering systems (his old title? Just replace “engineering systems” with “operations”).

The Windows Embedded team remains in the Server and  Tools business unit, but moves under Ted Kummert in the Data Platform Group.

“The purpose of the reorg is to create a consistent engineering structure for improved alignment and faster decision making,” Microsoft told Foley.

Earlier this month, the company hit the RTM milestone for Windows Server 2012.

 Update: Per a statement from Microsoft, corrected explanation that Windows Embedded remains part of the Server and Tools unit, but leadership moves to the Data Platform group. 

When Windows Server 2012 releases in September, it will come with tighter ties to the company’s Windows Azure cloud platform. During Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference this week in Toronto, the company announced that Windows Azure Web Sites and Virtual Machines – new features revealed last month – will be extended to Windows Server. The services, now available in a Community Technology Preview version, can be administered via a self-service portal that provides the same experience regardless of whether it is accessed on-premises or via the cloud.

To run the CTP, users will need to have at least four virtual machines running Windows Server 2012 or Windows Server 2008 R2, as well as System Center 2012 SP1.

In other Windows Server cloud news, Rackspace, the hosting provider recently named the 2012 Microsoft Hosting Partner of the Year, announced that it would offer Server 2012 as a dedicated hosted server and as part of its Cloud Sites PaaS package.

Which coveted item would you most like to get your hands on?

Even if you’re not a sports fan, you’ve probably heard that the Miami Heat, led by LeBron James, won the NBA championship last night over the Oklahoma City Thunder. The victory capped an impressive week by the much-maligned superstar, who silenced critics by finally stepping up when it mattered most. James led his team in scoring during each of its four straight wins, notching a triple-double in the clincher. He took home the Finals MVP trophy for his efforts.

Another big player had its reputation on the line this week, and also delivered multiple times. I’m talking about Microsoft, of course, which revealed plans for its new Surface tablet and Windows Phone 8 in two West Coast events. Both announcements marked the company’s renewed competition in areas where it’d been counted out by some. Though the Surface comes with some questions (including how it will impact partner relationships, how it will be managed by IT and, oh yeah, what it will cost), it could be a legitimate competitor to Apple’s iPad thanks to its light, thin body and innovations like an integrated kickstand and a cover that doubles as a keyboard.

Meanwhile, Windows Phone 8 represents a significant upgrade from previous versions of the mobile platform, with a new Start screen, a shared kernel with Windows 8, gaming updates and, crucially for enterprise IT, enhancements to security (secure boot, disk encryption), application deployment (a customizable company hub for internal line-of-business apps) and some level of device management.

Given that both the Surface and Windows Phone 8 aren’t expected to debut until at least the fall (no official release dates have been announced), and LeBron already has his trophy, this debate seems pretty simple. But Microsoft’s products have the chance to impact a multi-billion dollar market and revitalize a beleaguered brand (do I smell a new endorsement opportunity for King James?), so it’s worth asking the question: Who had the better week, LeBron or Microsoft?

Answer in our Facebook poll, or let us know what you think in the comments.