Updated: July 13, 2020 (October 13, 2003)
Charts & IllustrationsSustained Engineering Deliverables
Microsoft is working to standardize terms applied to sustained engineering software releases. Shown here is a list of terms and their definitions. While the Windows Sustained Engineering Team is currently using these definitions, all Microsoft product groups are working to standardize on them for sustained engineering deliverables.
| Deliverable | Description | KB Article | Security Bulletin | Level of Testing |
| Hotfix | Single fix (may be several files) typically distributed by PSS to address a specific customer problem | Yes | No | Limited testing to ensure fix addresses the problem |
| Security Patch | Broadly released fix to address a specific security vulnerability | Yes | Yes | Limited depth and integration testing (until exploit exists) |
| Critical Update | Broadly released fix for a non-security-related yet critical and specific problem, such as bug that causes the OS to crash | Yes | No | Limited depth and integration |
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