However, your computer manufacturer may be taking their time to check that the update won't cause problems on your PC before they make it available to you. The new microcode updates seem stable and we haven't seen reports of widespread problems. Intel's original microcode updates caused random reboots on many systems. This all sounds great, but there's one concern: system stability. Related: How Will the Meltdown and Spectre Flaws Affect My PC? Why You May Want to Wait For Your PC Manufacturer If you do have those patches installed already, this tool shows how much the patches are affecting your PC's performance.

Assuming you haven't installed a UEFI firmware update from your computer's manufacturer-or your motherboard's manufacturer, if you built your own computer-you'll see that your computer is vulnerable to Spectre. You can check if your PC is protected against Spectre with the Gibson Research Corporation's InSpectre tool. Technically, the microcode update we're talking about here protects against Spectre Variant 2, 'Branch Target Injection.' The original Windows patch protected against the Meltdown attack, but required a CPU microcode update from Intel to fully protect against Spectre. Spectre and Meltdown were disclosed at the same time, so this can be a bit confusing. Related: How to Check if Your PC or Phone Is Protected Against Meltdown and Spectre

Why Your PC May Still Be Vulnerable to Spectre Microsoft's patch is only available for Windows 10. But, if you're particularly concerned about Spectre attacks, you can get the updated microcode from Microsoft even if your PC manufacturer has no plans to release it. We think most people should wait for their PC manufacturers to roll out this update rather than rush to install Microsoft's patch.

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