Windows Autopatch

Microsoft announce the General Availability of Windows Autopatch – a cloud service that automates updates for Windows, Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise, Edge and Teams.

It’s included with Windows 10/11 Enterprise E3/E5/VDA licences, and customers also need to be licensed for Azure Active Directory Premium and Microsoft Intune to take advantage of the service.

You can find the announcement here: https://bit.ly/3vcQMWq, and a useful FAQ here: https://bit.ly/3S7o1o9.

SQL Server 2022 in preview

Microsoft announce the preview of SQL Server 2022 for early adopters, with the public preview and general availability coming in the next year.

In terms of what’s new, there are the usual improvements to performance, security and availability that you’d expect, as well as greater integration with Azure.

The three main improvements feature Disaster Recovery in the cloud through Azure SQL Managed Instance, near real-time insights on on-premises data through Azure Synapse Link, and visibility across the entire data estate though integration with Azure Purview.

There’s a useful datasheet here: https://bit.ly/30j36Ig with links at the bottom to the announcement, an overview video, and where you can apply to join the Early Adoption Program.