Explore Windows Update for Business

  • 2 minutes

Windows Update for Business enables commercial customers to manage which Windows Updates are received when as well as the experience a device has when it receives them. Windows Update for Business allows for control over update offerings and experiences to allow for reliability and performance testing on a subset of devices before deploying updates across the organization as well as a positive update experience for those in your organization.

Windows Update for Business is a new service introduced with Windows. With Windows Update for Business, you can use Group Policy or Intune configuration profiles to configure Windows Update to control the distribution and deployment of Windows updates. Windows Update for Business has the following features:

  • Internal deployment groups. With this feature, administrators can specify which Windows devices will receive upgrades and updates first, and when to update the remaining devices.
  • Maintenance windows. With this feature, administrators can specify when updates will and will not occur.
  • Peer-to-peer delivery. Windows devices don’t need to receive updates from Windows Update or a local server. With this feature, administrators can enable peer-to-peer delivery of updates to optimize updates delivery to branch offices and remote sites with limited bandwidth.
  • Integrates with existing tools. Windows Update for Business is compatible with WSUS, Configuration Manager, and Intune.
  • Support for Semi-Annual Channel. You can only use Semi-Annual Channel with Windows Update for Business.
  • Test upgrades. You have an additional three months of time to test upgrades before you deploy to your users’ Windows devices.

Windows Update for Business provides three types of updates in Windows:

  • Feature Updates. These updates include security and quality revisions, and feature additions and changes. They’re released approximately every 4 to 8 months.
  • Quality Updates. These operating system updates typically are released the second Tuesday of each month (though they can be released at any time). These include security, critical, and driver updates. Updates to other Microsoft products (such as those for Microsoft Office or Microsoft Visual Studio) are also treated as Quality Updates.
  • Non-deferrable updates. Anti-malware and anti-spyware definition updates from Windows Update are mandatory and cannot be deferred.