Windows 11 updates are about to become a lot easier with hotpatching

You know how you have to restart your computer after installing a Windows update? And sometimes you even have to reboot several times in a row for everything to apply properly?

It’s been the routine for decades now, basically for as long as Windows updates have been around. We hate it because it interrupts our workflows and forces us to start over, often at the most inconvenient times (even if you tell Windows to only schedule at certain times).

Well, good news! Microsoft also wants to put a stop to this annoyance, and the change might be coming sooner than you expect.

Hotpatching comes to Windows 11?

As reported by Windows Latest, Microsoft accidentally published a support page on “Hotpatch for Windows,” referring to a feature that may or may not be coming in Windows 11 24H2, the next major Windows update that’s slated for later this year.

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Whereas a regular software patch is any update that fixes issues or implements new features, a hotpatch is a specific type of patch that can be applied without requiring a restart.

For Windows, this would mean being able to update the operating system without the usual reboots involved, making it possible to update in the background without interrupting workflows.

X/Twitter user @phantomofearth first discovered the Microsoft support page on hotpatching and shared it via tweet:

It's gone. RIP https://t.co/MNX9PDXWKg

— phantomofearth