The company shares more info on Autopatch

Jul 8, 2022 18:58 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft announced Autopatch earlier this year, and many people out there believed the company was preparing for the end of Patch Tuesday.

At some level, this wasn’t necessarily surprising, especially because the wording used by a company executive suggested this could indeed be the case.

“For organizations who select this option, the second Tuesday of every month will be ‘just another Tuesday,’” the announcement read, therefore suggesting that the old concept of Patch Tuesday is going away.

The software giant has already clarified Patch Tuesday and Autopatch are two separate things, and in a graph published this week, the company’s Jeremy Chapman provides more information on how exactly Autopatch is supposed to work.

As per Neowin, Microsoft already offered additional information on Autopatch, so in essence, the chart is a summary of a longer post.

“Windows Autopatch is a new service that automates the process of managing and rolling out updates for Windows and Microsoft 365 apps. If you missed the announcement, beginning in early July 2022, this service will be generally available if you have a Windows Enterprise E3 license or greater. The takeaway if you're an IT admin? You can continue using the tools and processes you're accustomed to for managing and deploying updates—or you can take a hands-off approach and let Windows Autopatch do it for you,” Microsoft previously explained.

Autopatch is available free of charge for Windows Enterprise E3 and above license holders and works with Windows 10 and Windows 11.

“The General Availability Channel is the source for Windows updates through Windows Autopatch. Polices for quality and feature updates can be set independently to meet your needs. Admins will be able to see what updates have been applied through the Windows Autopatch message center in Endpoint Manager and will learn about what updates to expect. The familiar cadence of monthly Windows security and quality updates, also referred to as "B" releases, will continue and out-of-band updates will be applied as needed,” Microsoft said.