The firm introduced a new bunch of updates for its modern OS

Nov 20, 2014 07:26 GMT  ·  By

Even though so many eyes are now on Windows 10, as Microsoft continues development of the operating system, the company still works on Windows 8.1, so new updates are released on a regular basis in order to improve performance and add new features based on consumer feedback.

This is exactly what happened a couple of day ago when Microsoft quietly rolled out a large pack of improvements for Windows 8.1 as part of the Patch Tuesday cycle.

Windows 8.1 machines received what Microsoft calls November 2014 update rollup for Windows RT 8.1, Windows 8.1, and Windows Server 2012 R2, so users on these platforms are strongly recommended to install it as soon as possible.

What’s new in the November 2014 Windows 8.1 update

As Microsoft reveals in the official description of the patch, the November 2014 update comes with refreshed language packs, improved manageability, and performance and reliability improvements in clustered virtual machine mission-critical environments.

Additionally, the new update also comes with support for newer hardware, which includes SD card improvements, USB debugging, and boot order allowance, and additional hardware support, which Microsoft says allows “devices that have third-party disk encryption software enabled to now be upgraded to Windows 8.1 more easily.”

The full list of changes can be found after the jump and all users are recommended to save their work before installing the update because a reboot is mandatory.

Delivered via Windows Update

Just like it’s the case with all the other updates released for Windows 8.1 users, the November 2014 release is shipped via Windows Update, so no user input or additional steps are required.

It’s very important to know that the November 2014 is not mandatory for systems in order to receive additional security updates and improvements, but Microsoft still says that it’s critical for everyone to deploy it as soon as possible.

“Unlike our April update, the November update rollup is not required to be able to continue to receive security or other updates. However, we strongly recommend that you deploy it to Windows clients and servers to benefit from these new features and improvements as well as to prevent many known issues that have been resolved since April,” the company said in the official description of the update.

The new update is available for both 32- and 64-bit versions of Windows 8.1 and in case you don’t want to get it through Windows Update, click the links below to download it manually.

Download the x86-based Windows 8.1 November 2014 update package. Download the x64-based Windows 8.1 November 2014 update package. Download the x64-based Windows Server 2012 R2 November 2014 update package.

Windows Update in Windows 8.1 (6 Images)

Windows Update in Windows 8.1
The update is delivered as optional to Windows 8.1 PCsUpdate information in Windows 8.1
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