Regularly updating your systems and software is one of the best precautions you can take to close off the attack surface of your organization’s network. Updates and patches are usually released on a vendor-specific schedule and provide everything from appearance and functionality improvements to security fixes for vulnerabilities discovered since the last update.
There’s a solid chance that you are using Microsoft Windows as the primary operating system in your business. Windows has two major update types that are regularly released:
Feature Updates: these updates are released annually and include new operating system features for Windows. Feature updates are released in the second half of the year, more specifically in the fall.
Quality Updates: these updates provide fixes; both security and non-security related to your system. They are released on the second Tuesday of each month, but emergency updates can be released anytime. The second Tuesday quality updates are security focused and provide cumulative updates to your system, meaning that it brings you up to date with any updates that you have previously missed.
Windows also provides additional updates for device drivers and Microsoft products like Office 365. These updates may be turned on or off by you at your discretion, but I highly recommend turning them on. By default, Windows systems will automate the update process and do most of the work themselves right out of the box. If you have a very small organization with five or less computers, you can generally let the update process be, ensuring that you restart your computer whenever prompted by Windows Update.
However, organizations with many Windows systems, or those that desire greater control over the update process, may want to look at some of the avenues for update management.
Microsoft provides three servicing channels, with each one offering a different approach for when and how updates are deployed.
General Availability Channel: this is the basic channel that provides the feature updates released each fall. If you image your computer and keep Windows Update as is, the General Availability Channel will be used and will install the updates as soon as they are released. Users can get some flexibility with updates in this channel by using the Settings app.
Windows Insider Program for Business: if your organization utilizes highly specialized software that has a history of functionality issues with certain updates, then joining the Windows Insider Program for Business is a good choice. This servicing channel allows members to receive Windows updates while they are in development, before the feature updates are released. This will allow you to deploy the updates on a test machine and check their compatibility with your software before deploying the actual update.
Long Term Service Channel (LTSC): some organizations have devices that cannot go down under any circumstances, or host software that cannot be stopped for updates. In that case, the LTSC is the right call. Devices under LTSC receive feature updates only every two or three years, allowing the devices to function with no downtime for updating tasks. LTSC can only be purchased as a volume license through the Microsoft Volume Licensing Center.
There are various methods to deploy Windows updates in large networks. One is by running a Windows Server Update Service (WSUS) Server. This service runs on an on-site Windows Server and serves as a central hub for pulling down Windows updates and configuring them for deployment. Administrators can better tailor the updates for their environments, saving bandwidth and choosing deployment times. WSUS is deprecated but still available for use. The recommended update management solution by Microsoft is Windows Update for Business. This service is geared towards the MDM environment and allows admins to specify update rings.
Some organizations may use macOS devices rather than Windows. If you run a small side hustle by yourself or one other person, you may purchase expensive MacBooks for high quality development. In that case, the update process is a bit different but follows a lot of the same concepts.
MacOS releases a major version of the operating system annually, usually in the fall just like Windows. For example, macOS Tahoe (v. 26) was released in the fall of 2025. Additional updates and patches are released more frequently on a schedule of about six to eight weeks.
In terms of applications, every app has a different schedule for the release of updates. Luckily, most mainstream apps have automatic updates enabled. For example, you probably have opened Google Chrome before and seen a pop up explaining that you have been upgrades to the newest version. Except for in highly specialized environments that cannot have any system changes, leaving automatic updates turned on is generally the best practice.
While revising your organization’s cybersecurity policy, ensure that you document what update methods are in place. You can take your software asset inventory that was created in stage 1 and note the exact update schedule for each program on the list. If you are looking to improve the update process organization-wide, meet with your cybersecurity team to discuss possibilities for infrastructure change.