Microsoft said that the new Windows Update for Business deployment service for drivers and firmware will be available in Microsoft Endpoint Manager and Microsoft Graph as a public preview starting with the first half of 2022.
Once launched, it will enable enterprise admins to choose the drivers to deliver via Windows Update in their environment out of an assortment of matching options and schedule them for deployment.
Admins will be able to pick the right drivers by browsing the entire collection of drivers from independent hardware vendors (IHVs) and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) available on Windows Update.
This prevents the entire Windows driver catalog from being offered to endpoint users, with only those that receive the admins' approval being delivered instead.
"Microsoft is excited to announce a new deployment service for driver and firmware updates, giving you visibility into the drivers hosted in Windows Update that are a match for your enterprise devices," the company said in March when it first announced the new service.
Microsoft added that enterprises would want to make sure that the right drivers and firmware are deployed in their environment because:
- The hardware ecosystem constantly publishes new drivers and fixes to Windows Update.
- The Windows Update service targets devices with the right drivers just for them.
- Security incidents are often mitigated via driver updates and require a quick servicing response.
Redmond will also provide management reporting for driver servicing capabilities when the new service reaches public preview.
The reports will be accessible as Workbooks via Microsoft's analytics product for Windows Update for Business: Update Compliance.
Reporting will be available for all approved updates and recommended updates that require attention, including drill-downs designed to reveal individual device impact.
The service's public preview for Microsoft Graph will kick off in January 2022 and the first half of 2022 for Intune.
Microsoft provides a Microsoft Ignite depth on-demand session for a closer look at the new driver deployment service for commercial organizations.
Comments
JustinFlynn - 2 years ago
It would have been nice to integrate this into WSUS.
doriel - 2 years ago
WSUS and AD will be discontinued soon, no intention to improve system, that does not bring money for Microsoft.
Norio - 2 years ago
@doriel, how about a citation or reference? Where did you find out that "AD will be discontinued"?
dutch2005 - 2 years ago
"@doriel, how about a citation or reference? Where did you find out that "AD will be discontinued"?"
Because nothing is getting added to AD, nor to WSUS?
AD 2016, 2019 and 2022 all run at 2016 AD functional level (there is no new feature).
WSUS has had the same features since forever, no option to intergrate with "work from home" and/or AzureAD.
AAD is the cash cow from MS, it is monthly revenue.
Same can "soon" be said of "sharepoint", the new version is subscription based (even the on-premise version).
doriel - 2 years ago
No evidence to share with you.
Pure observation and experience. Admin can delete my post, if you consider that as speculation, or conspiracy.
Fully functional Office 2010 and other older SW (Windows XP, 7) were ended, just because MSFT cannot monetize them anymore. Microsoft ended in record breaking income last year. They pushed all of you into subscription models with same unsecure applications, as debugged O2010 was.
In fact, more and more holes and exploits appear in those "brand new re-skinned" applications.
OS core is the same from Win NT, just new skin was added. Microsoft cannot create something new on its own. If he wants to come up with some "new function", they just buy others piece of SW, because they are so lame. AAD = Linux.
O365 = Office 2016 core
W11 = Windows 10 with different wallpaper, same insides
Stupid two control panels. Instead of reworking it, we are being fed bit by bit with small changes. So they can say "we are working on it, see?" Not interested in Windows anymore, it turned into one giant hodgepodge of different source codes melted together.
And Active directory is still so functional, because Microsoft does not mess with it, there are no round corners introduced, no bloatware added.