Microsoft last week announced plans to release a feature called auto patch as part of Windows Enterprise E3 in July 2022.
“This service will automatically keep Windows and Office software on enrolled devices up to date at no additional cost,” Lior Bela, Microsoft’s senior product marketing manager, said in a statement last week. “The second Tuesday of the month will be ‘just another Tuesday.'”
Windows Autopatch is designed to work with all supported versions of Windows 10, Windows 11, and Windows 365 for Business. However, Windows Server and Windows 365 Enterprise operating systems are not supported.
The tech giant said the feature aims to close the complexities associated with software updates in enterprise computing environments, as well as security gaps created by failure to apply patches in a timely manner, thereby opening the door to new potential threats.
The managed service works by applying updates across four deployment rings, starting with a small group of “test” devices on a corporate network, up to the “first” 1% of devices, then “fast” and “wide”. Rings containing the rest of the machines with a 9% to 90% split.
“Updates are applied to a small initial group of devices, evaluated, and then staged to larger and larger groups, with a testing period at each progression,” Microsoft said. “The result is that enrolled devices are always up-to-date and business disruptions are minimized.”
“If a problem occurs, the autopatch service can be suspended by the customer or by the service itself. If appropriate, a rollback will be applied or made available,” the company emphasized.