Free Software Update Technology to Cover All Products

Software Update Services (SUS), a free Microsoft Windows Server-based tool that gives organizations a centralized and automated way to distribute and install critical OS fixes and security rollups on Windows systems, is getting an upgrade. Renamed Windows Update Services (WUS) and now in a broad beta for a first half of 2005 release, the new product coincides with an upgrade to Microsoft’s Windows Update Web service for distributing software updates, which will be renamed Microsoft Update. The combination will eventually support updating of all Microsoft products, and it provides some capabilities sorely lacking in SUS, especially status reporting. Although Systems Management Server (SMS) still provides many more capabilities, WUS could appeal to organizations that cannot justify SMS’s price tag and greater complexity.

Centralized Software Update Management

Most organizations today recognize that one of the most important elements of a defense against computer attacks and viruses is to patch software vulnerabilities before exploits ever appear. However, this is not a simple task, and maintaining a Windows PC today includes patching and updating many applications and components beyond those of the core OS, such as Internet Explorer (IE), Office, Windows Media Player, SQL Server (including the desktop version, Microsoft SQL Desktop Engine, or MSDE), and Exchange. Organizations need to know that their software has all the latest software updates, yet realize they can’t depend on users to be proactive about keeping their machines updated.