Now available for Windows Enterprise E3 and E5

Jul 13, 2022 06:30 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft has officially launched Windows Autopatch, with the service now available for Windows Enterprise E3 and E5 licenses.

While Autopatch comes as a modern way to manage updates, Microsoft emphasizes that Patch Tuesday continues to live on. Since the Windows Autopatch announcement, there’s been a lot of controversy regarding Patch Tuesday, though the company has emphasized on several occasions that no changes would occur in this regard.

“The public anticipation surrounding Windows Autopatch has been building since we announced it in April. Fortunately for all, the wait is over. We are pleased to announce that this service is now generally available for customers with Windows Enterprise E3 and E5 licenses. Microsoft will continue to release updates on the second Tuesday of every month and now Autopatch helps streamline updating operations and create new opportunities for IT pros,” the company emphasizes.

More reliable update deployment

With Windows Autopatch, IT pros can automate the updating process of several Microsoft products, including not only the desktop operating system (both Windows 10 and Windows 11 are supported), but also Microsoft Edge and Microsoft 365.

“Essentially, Microsoft engineers use the Windows Update for Business client policies and deployment service tools on your behalf. The service creates testing rings and monitors rollouts-pausing and even rolling back changes where possible,” the company continued.

Needless to say, one of the main benefits of Autopatch is that it makes it possible to detect issues during the update deployment, therefore preventing major issues from hitting devices configured with Autopatch.

“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,” the company explains.