We intend to collect information on patching and keeping up-to-date all sorts of operating systems here. Ideally, the OS's used by all of our end users will be covered.

Mac OS 9

Mac OS 9 contains its own mechanism that keeps itself up to date. Locate your system's Control Panels; usually, this is under the "Apple Menu" in the upper left corner of your screen. Among them, you should find a panel called Software Update (its icon is shown here). Open that panel, and from there you can check your system, schedule automatic updates, and so on.

Mac OS X

Mac OS X contains its own mechanism to keep itself up to date; this applies to version 10.1 and all subsequent versions. Open the System Preferences application (its icon is shown here), and in the row labeled System, look for Software Update. Click that pane, and from there you can check your system, schedule automatic updates, and so on.

Solaris

Patch procedures applying to all recent (Solaris 2.6 through Solaris 9) are covered in the PatchingSolaris topic. Note that most people with a Sun workstation on their desk in CIS are not required to patch their machines; the CIS support staff takes care of it remotely for you. These instructions are really intended for self-maintainance or home users.

Windows

Patch procedures for Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows NT, Windows Me, and Windows 98 will be found in the PatchingWindows^? topic. Information regarding the recent Windows virii and worms (with exploits named Blaster, Nachi, Stealther, and so on) is present in the WindowsPatchProcedures topic.