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Microsoft is preparing to overhaul the Windows Update section of its OS to house all apps with available software updates, ditching "fragmented" individual updates.
The company is building this "Windows-native update orchestration platform" inside Windows Update, which is normally focused on loading revisions to its own OS. But in the future, Microsoft envisions Windows Update as a one-stop centralized service to handle all your program updates, similar to the update mechanisms for Android and macOS.
In a blog post, Microsoft says the current update experience in Windows can be a hassle for consumers and IT admins, which can lead to missed updates, CPU and bandwidth spikes during the version update process, and "confusing or conflicting notifications."
"Updates across the Windows ecosystem can feel like a fragmented experience," the company adds. "To solve this, 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."
The company is kicking off the effort with a private preview for software developers. The preview will offer developers an API that can "onboard" updates for third-party programs and schedule them through Windows Update. This promises to offer a "simplified notification experience" since the Windows OS will handle all the official update alerts.
In addition, the centralized hub will let the OS display an "app update history." Third-party programs can also tap Windows to schedule software updates "based on user activity, system performance, connection to AC power, and sustainable times to update," Microsoft says.
The catch is that developers will need to support the upcoming Windows update mechanism, which will include reconfiguring their apps to connect to Microsoft’s APIs. But on the plus side, developers won't need to spend time building their own update mechanism, with Microsoft noting: "There are costs to create, maintain, and improve your update orchestration."
It's unclear how the experience will look and work for consumers. In the meantime, Redmond is asking interested developers to join the preview by emailing its dedicated team at unifiedorchestrator@service.microsoft.com.