Microsoft Announces “Patch Tuesday 2.0”: Now Twice a Month to Keep Things Exciting
Security researchers welcomed the news cautiously.
Microsoft today announced Patch Tuesday 2.0, a new servicing cadence designed to “deliver updates faster” by doubling Patch Tuesday into Patch Tuesday and ‘Patch Again Thursday’. Starting April 1, admins can look forward to two scheduled opportunities monthly to refresh change-management plans and rediscover the joys of emergency CAB meetings.
“Customers told us once a month wasn’t enough suspense,” said Microsoft spokesperson Kyle Baker. “With Patch Again Thursday, we’re providing the agile transformation your PCs have been waiting for.”
According to briefing materials accidentally sent to a distribution list, Patch Again Thursday will focus on “fixing Patch Tuesday experience improvements,”. And it will include new, more descriptive restart prompts such as:
- Restart now (recommended)
- Restart later (we’ll ask again)
- and Restart during your next presentation.
Microsoft also confirmed it is experimenting with “Reboot-as-a-Service,” a feature that silently schedules a restart and then moves it forward whenever it detects a critical moment.
New deployment ring for Windows Update for Business
To help organizations cope, Windows Update for Business will introduce a new deployment ring between Pilot and Broad called “Therapy.” Intune administrators will be able to assign the ring to devices owned by people who say ‘just click update’ and anyone who has ever installed a driver from a pop-up ad.
In a move guaranteed to delight procurement, Microsoft said Patch Tuesday 2.0 will be included at no additional charge, unless you want to skip Patch Again Thursday. That capability will be available as an add-on SKU: Windows Update Premium Plus Select (WUPPS).
Security researchers welcomed the news cautiously. “The attack surface can’t expand if everything is constantly changing,” joked one analyst. Microsoft assured customers that each Patch Again Thursday will ship with a micro-rollback button that reverses only the last three surprises.
Patch Tuesday 2.0 will roll out “gradually,” beginning with anyone who clicked “Check for updates” out of curiosity.
Russell Smith, the Editorial Director at Petri IT Knowledgebase, has over two decades of hands-on experience in IT, in both small business settings and government IT infrastructure projects. Russell started writing for Windows IT Pro Magazine in t...
