It’s been years since Microsoft started releasing Patch Tuesday. Microsoft releases updates and bug fixes on the second Tuesday of every month. John Wilcox from Microsoft recently published a detailed blog post about the Windows Update servicing cadence. This blog post will help you understand the context of Microsoft’s update policy.
“The updates released on the second Tuesday of each month are “the primary and most important of all the monthly update events and are the only regular releases that include new security fixes”
Microsoft releases three quality updates every month-
- Also termed as “B” release at times, Patch Tuesday brings the most important, primary updates and the important security fixes.
- There is another out-of-band release from Microsoft wherein the users are suggested to update the devices immediately to fix the urgent vulnerability issues. The out-of-band updates do not follow the regular release schedules. Out-of-band releases may be provided to fix a recently identified quality issue or a security vulnerability. They occur when devices need to be updated immediately instead of waiting for the next monthly quality update release.
- There are other two ‘C’ and ‘D’ releases too which come in the third and fourth week of the month. These are the special optional preview releases and bring some non-security updates and are intended for testing of the planned bug fixes to be released on Tuesday. The main purpose of releasing these C and D updates is to help the users test the major updates before they are made available to the general public.
The Patch Tuesday Update also incorporates artificial intelligence into the deployment process. The team at Microsoft regularly collects update experience data and checks which devices will have a positive update experience. The main objective of Tuesday Patch is to provide safe and reliable updates for your devices.
Windows Update Servicing Cadence
Microsoft follows certain principles for all of their updates-
- Microsoft ensures that the update is simple and predictable so that the IT managers don’t need to take extra time or make extra efforts to deploy the updates. The update schedules are kept predictable so that you do not need to memorize it and can align them with other Microsoft products you use.
- Customer security is the first concern at Microsoft and they aim to respond to the threats as soon as possible without compromising compatibility or quality.
- The update’s deployment should be simple for both large and small businesses. Everything is kept transparent so that you can access as much information as you want or need. This transparency also helps you prepare for the upcoming updates.
Besides giving you regular updates and security fixes, Microsoft also takes your feedback very seriously. The team will keep an eye on all your feedback and issues reported by the users and provide the required fixes immediately.
This write-up hopes to help you learn about the Windows quality updates system and the principles Microsoft follows when releasing these updates.
