Microsoft will transition to the Unified Update Platform next week. As a result, Windows updates take up up to thirty percent less space.

You might not have noticed, but the security update that Microsoft rolled out for Windows 11 2022 devices (KB5023706) on March 14 marked the end of an era. As announced in February, Microsoft will switch to the Unified Update Platform starting with the next “Update Tuesday” on March 28th. Microsoft brings security and feature updates to an on-premises environment.

The on-prem platform combines cumulative updates with feature code. This eliminates an additional update. The number of feature updates for endpoint clients is also decreasing. The on-prem UUP also works with Windows Service Update Services (WSUS) and Microsoft Configuration Manager version 2203 or later.

Smaller and faster…

Thanks to the new platform, update files are reduced by up to thirty percent. As a result, the installation requires less storage space and, above all, less time. This will be music to the ears of companies in particular, which now frequently postpone updates to avoid system failures. Over time, the Unified Update platform will be the only way to pull in Windows 11 updates.

The first update within the new cycle has a catch. Or let’s say a big adder, because you need to install the UUP locally on your device first. For that, you can expect a solid 10GB update. So next Tuesday’s update may take a little longer, but updating Windows should be a smoother process after that.

…but also better?

Besides easier and faster updates, we hope that UUP can also contribute to more stable updates. Because as usual, the March 14 update brought some problems. The copy speed has slowed down significantly and users also report that they suddenly get notifications that their device no longer meets the system requirements because TPM 2.0 is suddenly no longer recognized.