Microsoft will soon begin rolling out Windows Autopatch, an automatic Windows and Office software update service for its business customers, which aims to make Patch Tuesday a thing of the past.
This feature is now available to customers under the American giant’s E3 and above enterprise contract. Windows Autopatch will launch in July 2022, Microsoft management said. The managed service will provide Windows 10 and Windows 11 updates for drivers, firmware, and Microsoft 365 apps like Teams, Word, Outlook, and Excel.
The Autopatch service is linked to Patch Tuesday and aims to help “IT pros do more for less,” says the American giant in a blog post. While companies aren’t flocking to the Windows 11 gate due to Microsoft’s minimum security requirements, the company is betting that they will by the end of Windows 10 support. in October 2025. The Redmond company is counting on the launch of this new feature to accelerate the adoption of Windows 11.
“A Tuesday like the others”
“This service will automatically keep Windows and Office software up to date on enrolled devices at no additional cost. IT administrators can save time and resources to create value. The second Tuesday of each month will now be a Tuesday like any other, ”says Microsoft, which is multiplying initiatives to allow widespread adoption of Windows 11.
As a reminder, Patch Tuesday takes place on the second Tuesday of each month. The American giant then makes available to its customers its latest security patches for its software.
This is a massive project for Microsoft, as updating software has never been more important for businesses than it is today. “Security measures must be strengthened as new threats emerge. Hardware and software innovations improve usability and productivity. Companies must continually react to remain competitive, improve protection and optimize performance,” Microsoft said.
The pace of updates is intensifying
For the American giant, the high rate of updates to be applied has introduced many companies to “security vulnerabilities” that will put latecomers in the hot seat. “A security breach forms when quality updates that protect against new threats are not adopted in a timely manner. A productivity gap forms when feature updates that improve users’ ability to create and collaborate aren’t rolled out. When the gaps widen, catching up may require more effort,” said Microsoft management.
For Windows Autopatch to work, customers must have Azure Active Directory (Azure AD), Microsoft’s Intune Mobile Device Management service, and running 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 first roll out the updates to a small number of devices before rolling them out to other devices. This approach resembles Windows 10 phased rollouts based on Microsoft’s machine-learning-powered hardware and driver analysis. But administrators can pause Autoupdate if they run into problems and can roll back if needed.
“The result is to ensure registered devices are always up-to-date and disruption to business operations is kept to a minimum, freeing IT from this ongoing task,” the site says. The service does not support Windows Server OS and multi-session Windows. Some non-Microsoft drivers are supported by the service. Drivers approved for “automatic” mode are provided by the service, but “manual” drivers will not. All Surface devices will receive driver updates through the service.