Microsoft’s Windows Server platform has utilized the hotpatch update method for a couple years. Microsoft has announced they are bringing the feature to Windows 11 Enterprise editions.

What is hotpatching for Windows? I’ll let them explain:

The first month of each quarter of the calendar year (i.e. January, April, July, and October), devices install the standard monthly security update and restart. This cumulative update contains the latest security fixes, new features, and enhancements. The following two months, devices are offered hotpatch updates, which include only security updates and install without the need to restart. At the start of the next quarter, the cycle repeats.

That’s it. Devices stay secure and productive, and you reduce the number of required restarts for Windows updates from twelve to just four thanks to eight planned hotpatch updates each year!

While most environments aren’t using the latest and greatest using Windows 11, M365/Entra, Intune managed devices – a big Microsoft Entra stack, the requirements are pretty normal for a company that is using that Microsoft stack – a Windows environment using Windows 11 24H2, Microsoft 365, Intune, etc.:

To take advantage of the public preview, your organization will need the following to be eligible for hotpatching:

• A Microsoft subscription that includes Windows Enterprise E3 or E5 (e.g. Microsoft 365 A3/A5 or Microsoft 365 F3); or a Windows 365 Enterprise subscription
• Targeted devices running Windows 11 Enterprise, version 24H2 (Build 26100.2033 or later)
• Microsoft Intune

You can enable hotpatch updates for eligible devices using a new Windows quality update policy in Intune and Windows Autopatch. Using those policies, you can opt devices in (or out) for automated hotpatch update deployment. And, good news, the quality update policy can auto-detect if your targeted devices are eligible for hotpatching. All other Windows 10 and Windows 11 devices will continue to receive the standard monthly security updates, ensuring that your ecosystem stays protected and productive.

All in all, if you’re all in with Microsoft, this is a great feature. Having less restarts due to Windows updates is always a great thing. They are noticeable in the workplace and can happen at the worst possible time (even with the nag screens and a timer when it’s forced). This will be a huge positive thing for the end user and the reputation of the IT department and keeping the security folks happy that everything is patched and protected.

Microsoft has released a new build for Windows 11 Insiders in the Canary Channel. Some good new features, some fixes, but as usual it’s still an early build so it does come with some caveats. If you’re good with them, it’s a great channel to be a part of. Either do regular backups or don’t do it on your main workstation, depending on how much of a risk taker you are. I’ve yet to have a single issue or had to restore a backup, but it’s there just in case!

Also, we’ve updated the side bar to show the latest Windows 11 Insider builds with links. They’ll be updated as soon as I can when notified of the new releases. I’ll be adding a link to an Insiders article soon, as well. Any feedback on the look or requested features for the site are welcome, just email me at dharper @ mstechpages. com (remove the obvious spaces).

• The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windowsand features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.

Microsoft has announced the Windows 365 Link device, a thin client that will stream Windows and host all applications and data on the Azure platforms. This is not aimed for the home user, but for those enterprises that require high security, easy deployment, low costs, and easy manageability. With the lack of local storage, your data is always in your control.

Coming in at $349, it’s a low cost workstation using environmentally friendly design, high performance, fanless, and very small.

Today, as users take advantage of virtualization offerings delivered on an array of devices, they can face complex sign-in processes, peripheral incompatibility, and latency issues. Windows 365 Link helps address these issues, particularly in shared workspace scenarios. It’s compact, lightweight, and designed to maximize productivity with its highly responsive performance. It takes seconds to boot and instantly wakes from sleep, allowing users to quickly get started or pick up where they left off on their Cloud PC. With dual 4K monitor support, four USB ports, an Ethernet port, Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.3, Windows 365 Link offers seamless connectivity with both wired and wireless peripherals.

Licensing is the typical Microsoft licensing, coming in close to $60 a month.

• You must have an Intune license to use Intune to manage the devices.

• Windows 365 Enterprise: Users must have licenses for Windows E3, Intune, Microsoft Entra ID P1, and Windows 365 to use their Cloud PC.

• Windows 365 Frontline: Users must

  • Have licenses for Windows E3, Intune, Microsoft Entra ID P1.

  • Be added to the Microsoft Entra security group in the provisioning policy to use their Cloud PC.

With around 1 year to go for support for Windows 10, it’s getting to the time where many people, businesses, and enterprises are looking to migrate away from the older operating system, with it’s latest and final update 22H2 to the newer Windows 11. The support is ending for all editions of Windows 10, from Home to Enterprise, aside from the LTSB. 

What does this mean for users? On October 14th, 2025, you will no longer receive Windows security or stability updates and it will leave your computer with a security risk based on the future unpatched vulnerabilities of the OS. However, it will still continue to function, your antivirus software will continue to function, etc.. It will not just stop working. It just will not be supported by Microsoft any longer. The best upgrade path would be to move to Windows 11 if your current PC supports it. If not, a new PC may be needed. Windows 11 does have some new hardware requirements that older PC’s may not meet.

As usual with these end of life dates, there will be a lot of doom and gloom as the time eventually comes and goes. Those most impacted will be enterprises and businesses who will be upgrading to comply with security policies. Home users will need to be aware of the end of updates and what it means, but it’s more of a personal decision to upgrade rather than a business requirement.

I’m sure there will be a lot more news and articles as the October 14, 2025 date approaches.

As documented on the Windows 10 Enterprise and Education and Windows 10 Home and Pro lifecycle pages, Windows 10 will reach end of support on October 14, 2025. The current version, 22H2, will be the final version of Windows 10. The following editions will remain in support with monthly security update releases through that date:

• Home
• Pro
• Pro Education
• Pro for Workstations
• Education
• Enterprise
• Enterprise multi-session

Existing LTSC releases will continue to receive updates beyond that date based on their specific lifecycles.

Today marks the 10 year anniversary of the Windows Insider Program from Microsoft. As someone that’s been there since day 1, it’s been a wild ride. Sometimes, it really feels like it was just yesterday when it released.

You can still join the program and sign up for whatever channel you’d like to participate in, depending on how you want things to work (latest and greatest but maybe not fully functional or more stable and a little closer to the final release). As always, be sure to submit your feedback. They really do read it!

Thank you to the Windows Insider team at Microsoft for a great 10 years, and here’s to another great 10 years! Cheers!

Microsoft has released their latest Windows 11 version (24H2). Windows Update is rolling out the latest and greatest, but if you want the update to install or upgrade now, the ISO is available at the Microsoft Download link.

What’s new for IT Professionals

What’s new in general

Microsoft will be adjusting their pricing on their certification exams. For those in the US, the Fundamentals will be $99 and the Advanced Role Based will be $165. They are crediting the recent market conditions as the reasoning for the pricing change. You can check the post for more information and what the pricing may be in your region.

Remember, if the price is going up where you are at, you can schedule an exam before October 31st at the lower price if needed and reschedule it to a later date to keep that price available. This is a good way to save money if you’re planning on taking an exam soon but not before the end of October.

If you’re planning to take a Microsoft Certification exam, you can register for and take the exam at the current price until October 31, 2024. If you register to take the exam on or after November 1, 2024, you’ll pay the updated price. Remember, in many countries and regions, the retail price is not changing and might even be decreasing. For more information on how to register and pay for your exam, go to the Microsoft Certification exam policies and FAQs.

Microsoft released a new update for their PowerToys feature called Workspaces, available here. This allows you to select a group of applications on your desktop, including multiple monitors, and be able to restore them at the push of a button. For both maximized and minimized application and the application location on screen. The only caveat is that if the application is running as Administrator, it will not recall the position on screen.

The description from Microsoft:

PowerToys Workspaces is a desktop manager utility for launching a set of applications to custom positions and configurations with one-click, getting you into your ideal desktop state for any project or activity faster. You can capture your desktop state as a new workspace using the editor, add arguments to apps to configure their state on launch, and pin the workspace as a desktop shortcut for quick-launching. Launching the workspace will launch all apps to their assigned positions.

There are some third party addons that can do similar things but having an official Microsoft version as part of their PowerToys suite can be easier for a corporate IT department to approve as well as a little smaller footprint.

Microsoft has redesigned their certification exam UI, bring a more modern and helpful look to the exam interface. A lot of these were often talked about suggestions and all of them are very welcomed to help out in the exam room. From a nice dark mode to your exam progress indicator, it’s there to help make you know what’s going on in the exam and help you manage your time and reduce that exam stress.

Highlights of the new and improved UI include:

• The ability to turn the exam clock on and off.

• An expandable exam menu toolbar on the side of the screen, providing more space for the question and minimizing scrolling.

• A new flyout tools menu, including:

  • Exam Question Details, providing a quick count of items answered, unanswered, marked for review, and marked for comment.
  • Exam Progress, offering a visual indicator of how much of the exam you’ve completed and how much remains.

• A design that minimizes vertical and horizontal scrolling.

• A more logical placement of the Review later and Leave feedback boxes.

• A subway map that shows where you are in the exam.

• An exam progress bar with each question so you know exactly how many sections and questions remain.

• An improved review screen, with a filtered view that displays questions that are answered, unanswered, marked for review, or marked for comment. Review mode includes labels throughout, reminding you which items you’re reviewing.

• Modernized color scheme options, including Dark mode.

• Added calculation history to the calculator.

Microsoft has a new post up about what is new in Windows 11 version 23H2 that benefits the IT professionals deploying Windows 11 in their environment. A lot of talk lately about the new desktop AI from Microsoft, Co-Pilot (currently in preview), which is included in this release. Some good security improvements to Windows Hello, Windows Firewall, and others.

There are also a few additional enhancements in this scoped release, such as:

• The ability to ungroup icons and show labels on the taskbar for easy access to open applications and files.

• A more seamless File Explorer with native support for RAR and other file compression formats.

• Recommended websites in the Start menu based on each person’s browsing history. (This feature can be managed using a policy.)

• A new volume mixer to control the volume and audio output more easily for each application.

• The ability to set up a multi-app kiosk on Windows 11 devices with a customized Start menu showing only allowed apps for each account type.

• Federated sign-in for Education editions of Windows 11.

• Dev Drive, a new form of storage volume designed to improve performance for key developer workloads. Gain more control over storage volume settings and security, including trust designation, antivirus configuration, and administrative control over filters.