The company said that Windows XP customers faced 'significant risk' of breaking the operating system if the installed updates intended for different operating systems. 'The security updates that could be installed are intended for Windows Embedded and Windows Server 2003 customers and do not fully protect Windows XP customers,' Microsoft said. In a statement issued to ZDNet Microsoft said it was aware of the hack but warned people against using it to protect XP machines:
People testing out the hack have said that it works, with Windows XP immediately showing a number of important security updates ready to be installed. The hack involves changing the registry in Windows XP to make it appear to be Windows Embedded POSReady 2009, a commercial version of Windows that will continue to receive updates until 9 April 2009. A workaround that tricks Microsoft into providing security updates for Windows XP doesn't work and may put computers at risk according to the company.
