The End of Reboots? Microsoft Testing Hotpatch to Update Windows 11 Without Disruptions
Microsoft is testing hotpatch, a new feature to eliminate the hassles in updating Windows 11 – system reboots. Hotpatch should be a welcome addition for all Windows 11 users who have held off applying security updates, which exposes them to cybersecurity risks. Find out when Microsoft will roll out hotpatch.
- Microsoft is testing hotpatch, a new feature to eliminate the hassles in updating Windows 11 – system reboots.
- Scheduled for a rollout later in 2024, hotpatch would still require users to restart every few months.
Your routine Windows security patching could become a little less tedious now that Microsoft is testing a new feature to allow users to apply security updates without having to restart the computer.
Windows Central’s Zac Bowden noticed the feature, dubbed hotpatch, in one of the preview builds for Windows 11 and confirmed with his sources. This means the new feature could remain unavailable in previous Windows iterations.
However, hotpatch is available on Xbox and in non-Azure editions of Windows Server 2022, much to the delight of gamers and enterprise administrators. Microsoft noted that system reboots will be required every few months, meaning four reboots is a calendar year for the minor code changes to take hold more effectively.
Hotpatch Schedule
Source: Microsoft
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Nevertheless, it can help users save the monthly five to ten minutes of update time, sometimes twice a month. While it may not seem much, hotpatch is undoubtedly a welcome addition for all Windows 11 users who have held off applying updates to a later time, whenever that comes.
This is another reason for Windows users to rejoice – they can apply updates as soon as they are available, usually every month on the second Tuesday, known as Microsoft Patch Tuesday, without going through the accompanying tedium. This can minimize the time a computer is exposed to vulnerabilities and other security risks.
“It works by patching the in-memory code of running processes without the need to restart the process,” Microsoft said, adding that hotpatch for virtual machines entails fewer binaries, which translate into faster update installation and will consume less disk and CPU resources.
Hotpatch should be rolled out later in 2024 with Windows 11 24H2 for computers running on the x86-64 architecture processors, while ARM64 systems will get the update next year. The feature is being tested on Windows 11 implementations of Windows Insiders that have enabled virtualization-based security.
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