The latest Windows 11 updates are here, and it’s big news for business customers worried about tons of confusing patch updates.
Microsoft has introduced a new unified update solution by combining Windows Update for Business with Autopatch, and unsurprisingly it’s also thrown in some AI for good measure.
This single service provides complete organizational maintenance for multiple Microsoft products, increasing enterprise security and minimizing fragmented updates.
Less hassle, more control
With Windows Autopatch, businesses can deploy updates to Windows PCs, Microsoft 365 applications, Edge and Teams through one unified solution, with an AI update programming capability that will significantly reduce hassle and impact on business productivity.
Earlier in February 2023 an Autopatch update introduced importing Intune Update Rings from Windows 10 and later into Autopatch Manager, which automatically enrolls devices without impacting update schedules or the need to redeploy existing Update Rings.
Microsoft is also introducing passwordless authentication for your cloud PC with a new special mode on Windows 365 Boot. There are also additional improvements to Windows 365 Switch, meaning you can go to your cloud PC from Windows 11’s Task View and easily see whether you’re on your cloud or local PC with a desktop indicator.
The March 2024 Update makes these updates available as an optional non-security preview release for all editions of the 23H2 and 22H2 versions of Windows 11.
To make the most of these improvements, navigate to Settings, Windows Update, and then enable “Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available.”
Microsoft is also introducing AI to its Azure platform to help reduce the number and impact of spam and scam calls on customers. The Operator Call Protection uses AI to analyze the spoken content of phone calls to determine if the call is potentially malicious, and then issues an alert to the operator.
The tech giant has come under fire from regulators and competitors in recent weeks for its allegedly uncompetitive business practices, including its partnership with OpenAI, its investments in smaller tech companies and restricting its customers from using competitors’ security platforms.