After a version of Microsoft Office is released, Microsoft makes available a series of software updates designed to help improve the security, performance, and reliability of the applications. Keeping clients in your organization up-to-date with the latest updates is worth the effort, and there are strategies you can use to make the patching process more efficient and consistent.

This article can help you determine what update strategy to use depending upon the type of update you are deploying and the current state of your administrative installation point.

Types of updates

Microsoft releases several different types of software updates:

• Service packs comprise a set of all hot fixes, security updates, and critical updates released to date, and may also include additional bug fixes or customer-requested design changes or features. Because a service pack includes a new product version in the MSI file, it represents a new baseline version of the product.
• Security updates are released between service packs and address product-specific, security-related vulnerabilities. These updates are rated based on their severity.
• Critical updates are released between service packs and fix specific problems unrelated to security issues.

Software updates are released in two forms:

• Binary patches, or client patches, replace only portions of the files that have been updated; these cannot be applied to an administrative image.
• Full-file patches, or administrative patches, completely replace all files modified by an update. Prior to Office 2000 Service Pack 3, full-file patches were used exclusively to update an administrative installation point. Beginning with Office 2000 SP3, you can also apply full-file patches directly to client computers.

 Note   Some Office 2000 updates are released as IExpress packages. Unlike most Office 2000 software updates, these EXE files do not contain MSP files and are not released in an administrative form. They must be run directly on client computers. For more information, see Installing Internet Express Software Update Packages.

Establishing a baseline version

A key part of keeping all clients up-to-date is to maintain a consistent baseline image of Office throughout the organization, regardless of the particular update strategy you follow. In most cases, a new service pack represents a new baseline because it includes a new product version in the Office MSI file. The baseline image serves as the source for all users — users who are running Setup in maintenance mode, as well as new users who are installing Office for the first time.

Microsoft has released the following baseline versions of Office 2000:

• Office 2000 Service Release 1a (replaces the release version of Office 2000)
• Office 2000 Service Pack 3

These major updates are cumulative: they include all previous patches plus additional updates and fixes. To avoid creating synchronization problems between the client and the source, you must distribute service pack updates in one of the following ways:

• If your administrative image is still at the SR1a level, then you can distribute the client version of the service pack directly to users. Applying the patch does not change the product version in the MSI file on the local computer. Client computers remain in sync with the original source.
• If your administrative image has been patched, then you should update the administrative image with the service pack and then recache and reinstall Office on client computers. This method updates the product version in the MSI file on client computers and ensures that they remain in sync with the source.

 Note   Office 2000 Service Pack 2 is not considered a baseline version because it did not include a new product version in the MSI file.

Update strategies

With any update strategy, the goal is to ensure that all users have the most up-to-date software, including critical security patches, while keeping them synchronized with the source for installing on demand or repairing or updating the applications. The strategy you choose for updating Office XP on users' computers depends on a number of factors, including the current state of your administrative installation point, your network resources, and the amount of control you have over users' desktop configurations.

The following table summarizes the recommended patching strategies for Office 2000.

You can find detailed instructions for maintaining an administrative image and distributing client updates directly to users in the article Distributing Office 2000 Client Updates to Users.

If you plan to manage software updates centrally from an updated administrative image, you can find more information in the article Updating Office 2000 Clients from a Patched Administrative Image.

Related links

In a managed environment, it is recommended that you block users' access to Office updates on Office Online. By setting a single registry subkey or policy, you can prevent users from downloading client patches on their own yet still allow them to take advantage of all the other resources on Office Online. For more information, see Blocking Users' Access to Office Update.

The strategies for applying updates to Multilingual User Interface Packs are identical to those for updating the core Office installation. For more information, see Deploying Office 2000.