We've heard before that Windows 11 could be getting a “hot patching” feature with version 24H2, coming later this year, whereby (some) future cumulative updates won't require a reboot, and we've just received another hint that this could be coming to fruition.
The latest Windows reports indicate that PhantomOfEarth on X flagged a new hot patch support article on Windows 11, though there's a twist here in that it was evidently posted accidentally and quickly taken down by Microsoft.
The post can still be viewed using Wayback Machine, but as you'll see if you take a look at it, the article is just a copy-paste of guidelines for preparing a support document (which, as mentioned, was clearly posted in error).
The key here is that the fact that Microsoft is working behind the scenes on hot-patching-related content for Windows Ge or Germanium (which is Windows 11 24H2, with Germanium being the codename for the new platform it’s based on) is a clear indication that this is on the way. If not, why work on hot-patching-related material at this point?
An easy way to update Windows 11
Considering the date mentioned in the now-retracted article, which is 2024.08, this suggests that we could see some sort of update from Microsoft regarding hot patching functionality for Windows 11 before the end of August.
Of course, this could all come to nothing, but it appears to be a feature Microsoft is planning, according to previous information from Zac Bowden, a reliable leaker of all things Windows.
In fact, Bowden did say that it’s planned for the 24H2 update, and explained a bit more about how hot patching would work in a info dump earlier this year. In short, only a few cumulative updates (the monthly patches that arrive for Windows 11) would be applied without a reboot (two in a row) before the third baseline cumulative update is released that does require a reboot. This means that two-thirds of updates would be applied via hot patching, but keep in mind that big yearly updates for Windows 11 (like 24H2) always require a reboot since they’re naturally much larger in scope.
It would be great to be able to download and install some of the monthly Windows 11 patches on your PC seamlessly, without needing to reboot, so you can keep working (or gaming, or whatever you're doing).
It will also eliminate that small amount of danger that occurs every time you reboot your computer to update it, and pray that you don't get a power outage. If your computer shuts down during an update of any kind, that could be bad news and lead to corrupted files, and maybe the operating system not booting at all, if you're really unlucky.
