Microsoft is launching a Windows and Office software update service for its enterprise customers that aims to turn “Patch Tuesday” into just another Tuesday. The company is releasing Windows Autopatch.
See also: Microsoft: New Windows 11 security feature requires “clean install”
The company revealed some information at its virtual Windows Hybrid Work event, where it explained how Windows 11 could help businesses, but now it has provided more details.
Windows Autopatch will be released in July 2022, Microsoft says in an FAQ. The managed service will provide Windows 10 and Windows 11 quality and feature updates for drivers, firmware, and Microsoft 365 apps like Teams, Word, Outlook, and Excel.
Businesses haven't been quick to adopt Windows 11 due to Microsoft's security-focused minimum hardware requirements, but the company is betting that most businesses will upgrade hardware by the time Windows 10 support ends in October 2025.
The Autopatch service is tied to Patch Tuesdays and aims to help "IT professionals," the company said in a post.
Making sure your software is up to date has perhaps never been more important. The White House is worried enough about Russian, Chinese, Iranian, and North Korean state hackers and ransomware that it recently told all U.S. organizations to enable multi-factor authentication.
See also: New Phishing Uses Azure Static Websites to Impersonate Microsoft
For Windows Autopatch to work, customers must have Azure Active Directory (Azure AD), Microsoft's Intune mobile device management service, and have supported versions of Windows 10 and 11.
Microsoft notes that Autopatch does not require "specific hardware," but Windows 11 hardware requirements still apply.
The company will initially roll out the updates to a small set of devices before expanding them to other devices. The approach is similar to the gradual rollout of Windows 10 based on Microsoft's machine learning analysis of hardware and drivers . However, administrators can pause AutoUpdate if they encounter problems and can roll back versions when necessary.
This process relies on customer testing and validation of all updates during these rollout stages. The result is to ensure that registered devices are always up to date and that disruption to business operations is minimized, which will relieve an IT department of this ongoing work.
See also: Microsoft will block vulnerable drivers in Windows 10, Windows 11
The service does not support Windows Server OS and Windows multi-session. Some non-Microsoft drivers are supported through the service. Drivers approved for “automatic” are delivered through the service, but drivers that are “manual” will not be delivered. All Surface devices will receive driver updates through the service.
Microsoft explains that Windows Autopatch is different from Windows Update for Business.
Information source: zdnet.com
