Latest news with #AngieChen
The Verge
7 days ago
- Business
- The Verge
Microsoft wants Windows Update to handle all apps
Microsoft is starting to open Windows Update up to any third-party app that needs to be updated. The software giant is now allowing developers to sign up for a private preview of what it calls the Windows Update orchestration platform, that will enable Windows Update to support any update for apps or drivers in the future. It's focused largely on business apps, but it will be open to any apps or management tools. Windows Update is largely used to update the core parts of Windows right now, alongside key drivers for devices and even install some third-party management apps for peripherals. 'We're building a vision for a unified, intelligent update orchestration platform capable of supporting any update (apps, drivers, etc.) to be orchestrated alongside Windows updates,' explains Angie Chen, a product manager at Microsoft. Most apps on Windows are updated independently, using update mechanisms that developers have created themselves. Microsoft's new Windows Update orchestration platform will let app developers take advantage of scheduled updates based on user activity, battery status, and even sustainable energy timing. Developers will also be able to hook directly into the native Windows Update notifications, and be listed in the app update history part of Windows Update. Microsoft will support MSIX / APPX packaged apps, and even some custom Win32 apps. Any apps that are part of the Windows Update orchestrator will automatically get future improvements to the underlying Windows Update platform, too. Microsoft has tried in the past to convince developers to list their apps in the Microsoft Store, where the store can handle updates or developers can continue to use their own update mechanisms. While the store on Windows has greatly improved in recent years, there are still some missing apps and businesses prefer to update their own line of business apps independently. Microsoft's Windows Package Manager has also tried to solve some of the problems with installing and updating apps on Windows, but it's not a widely used way to install and manage apps outside of power users and developers. Integrating more app updates into Windows Update certainly makes sense for a variety of apps, and it will be interesting to see whether this will be used primarily by businesses or if big developers like Adobe might move over to the Windows Update system instead of a separate installer that runs in the background.
Forbes
7 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Microsoft's New Windows Update — What It Means For Your Apps
Microsoft has been in the news rather a lot recently regarding Windows updates. First, there was the public relations fiasco that led to a social media conspiracy emerging after a security update stealthily installed a mysterious new Windows folder. This was followed by headlines about an optional $1.50 per-core server security hotpatch subscription for some enterprise users. And on May 17 came the corroboration of a Windows 10 death loop being experienced after users applied the latest security update. The latest story to emerge is the one you are reading right now, with Microsoft confirming a new Windows update strategy that will see apps and drivers rolled into the same update platform. Here's what you need to know. Given the aforementioned issues with Windows Update, and there are plenty more of course, you might be forgiven for thinking the system needed an overhaul. Truth be told, I'm actually a fan of it as is. From a security perspective, it just works. All the vital security updates are rolled into one platform that is both understandable to all users and, generally speaking, offers a relatively smooth user experience. Well, an overhaul is coming, it would seem, but not in the way you might have expected. A May 27 posting by Microsoft product manager Angie Chen, 'Introducing a unified future for app updates on Windows,' has laid bare a Windows update strategy that will see apps, drivers, pretty much everything you can update rolled into the one, unified Windows Update platform. The dangers of a fragmented ecosystem have been all too clear in the Android world, where users of different devices receive different security updates at varying times, while others receive none at all. It is, from the security perspective, an absolute nightmare. Microsoft understands this, and Chen admitted that 'updates across the Windows ecosystem can feel like a fragmented experience.' This is what the new Windows Update orchestration platform aims to solve. A platform that is now available for developers and app product teams to preview. The platform will allow for a 'unified, intelligent update' system capable of supporting apps, drivers and anything else, all while being 'orchestrated alongside Windows updates,' Chen confirmed. It's early days as of yet, but the principle is a sound one, and anything that can encourage a smoother and more efficient Microsoft update process has to be a good thing for everyone.
