Microsoft's new Windows Autopatch update service for enterprise customers is now widely available. Since announcing the solution in April, Microsoft has been pointing to a July release. The company is sticking to that timeline and is now rolling out Windows Autopatch to Enterprise E3 and E5 customers.
Windows Autopatch introduces automatic firmware, driver, app, and feature updates to customers. It is a managed service that links to Patch Tuesday but provides automatic patches when needed. This includes for Windows 10 and Windows 11 covering firmware and drivers, as well as Microsoft 365 apps like Word, Teams, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
It reached preview for enterprise customers last month and will get a full launch in July. Over the months since the announcement, Microsoft has needed to explain the details of Windows Autopatch.
Customers have been confused about exactly what the service is and how it sites alongside Patch Tuesday. Microsoft confirmed Patch Tuesday will continue and last week offered an explainer regarding the purpose of Autopatch.
General Availability
As Windows Autopatch reaches general availability, Microsoft is adding more information about the services. It taps into Windows Update for Business to bring automatic updates directly to Windows 11, Windows 10, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Edge, and other services.
“The idea of delegating this kind of responsibility may give some IT administrators pause. Changing systems in any way can cause hesitation-but unpatched software can leave gaps in protection-and by keeping Windows and Microsoft 365 apps updated you get all the value of new features designed to enhance creativity and collaboration.
Because the Autopatch service has such a broad footprint, and pushes updates around the clock, we are able to detect potential issues among an incredibly diverse array of hardware and software configurations. This means that an issue that may have an impact on your portfolio could be detected and resolved before ever reaching your estate. And as the service expands and grows, the ability to detect issues will get more robust. Microsoft invests resources into rigorous testing and validation of our releases. We want to give you the confidence to act
[…] In some organizations, where update deployment rings are already in place, and the update process is robust, the appetite for this kind automation may not be as strong. In talking to customers, we're learning how to evolve the Autopatch service to meet more use cases and deliver more value and are excited for some of the developments which will be announced in the upcoming months in this blog.”
Tip of the day: It's a good idea to backup your computer on a regular basis, and the most fool-proof way is to manually create a disk image and save it to an external hard drive.
