Microsoft confirms Windows Update orchestration platform strategy.
Microsoft has been in the news rather a lot recently regarding Windows updates. First, there was the public relations fiasco that led to a social media conspiracy emerging after a security update stealthily installed a mysterious new Windows folder. This was followed by headlines about an optional $1.50 per-core server security hotpatch subscription for some enterprise users. And on May 17 came the corroboration of a Windows 10 death loop being experienced after users applied the latest security update. The latest story to emerge is the one you are reading right now, with Microsoft confirming a new Windows update strategy that will see apps and drivers rolled into the same update platform. Here’s what you need to know.
Microsoft Confirms New Windows Update Orchestration Platform Strategy
Given the aforementioned issues with Windows Update, and there are plenty more of course, you might be forgiven for thinking the system needed an overhaul. Truth be told, I’m actually a fan of it as is. From a security perspective, it just works. All the vital security updates are rolled into one platform that is both understandable to all users and, generally speaking, offers a relatively smooth user experience. Well, an overhaul is coming, it would seem, but not in the way you might have expected.
A May 27 posting by Microsoft product manager Angie Chen, “Introducing a unified future for app updates on Windows,” has laid bare a Windows update strategy that will see apps, drivers, pretty much everything you can update rolled into the one, unified Windows Update platform.
The dangers of a fragmented ecosystem have been all too clear in the Android world, where users of different devices receive different security updates at varying times, while others receive none at all. It is, from the security perspective, an absolute nightmare. Microsoft understands this, and Chen admitted that “updates across the Windows ecosystem can feel like a fragmented experience.” This is what the new Windows Update orchestration platform aims to solve. A platform that is now available for developers and app product teams to preview.
The platform will allow for a “unified, intelligent update” system capable of supporting apps, drivers and anything else, all while being “orchestrated alongside Windows updates,” Chen confirmed.
It’s early days as of yet, but the principle is a sound one, and anything that can encourage a smoother and more efficient Microsoft update process has to be a good thing for everyone.
