Microsoft’s .Net Framework will get its own Patch Tuesday

Microsoft in October is introducing .Net Framework Monthly Rollup to provide security and quality updates to its programming model for Windows. The move aligns with the Windows Monthly Rollup, which does the same thing for the Windows OS.

Both rollups were unveiled on Monday and will be available on Patch Tuesday each month, according to Microsoft.

“The .Net Framework Monthly Rollup is a single install that updates each supported .Net Framework version on a machine to its latest respective update level,” said Microsoft’s Stacey Haffner. “Each monthly rollup supersedes the last one, so you if you’ve missed the last few months of updates, you only need to install the latest rollup to update to the latest update level.” The rollup installs only security and reliability updates, not a new version of .Net Framework.

Downloads of the .Net Framework Monthly Rollup, which will be about 60MB, can be accessed through Windows Update, Windows Server Update, or Microsoft Update Catalog. Microsoft also is offering a .Net Framework Security-only Monthly Update via Microsoft Update Catalog and Windows Server Update Services. Up to this point, there has been no option to install security and reliability updates together, and Microsoft has had many requests for a simple way to get current across all supported .Net Framework versions and operating systems, Haffner said.

On the Windows side, Microsoft’s Nathan Mercer echoed similar sentiments. “By moving to a rollup model, we bring a more consistent and simplified servicing experience to Windows 7 SP1 and 8.1, so that all supported versions of Windows follow a similar update servicing model.” The program increases Windows reliability by eliminating update fragmentation and providing more proactive updates, Mercer said.

Microsoft advises users to access either the .Net Framework Monthly Rollup or Security-only Monthly Update. “Your computer may be vulnerable to documented security issues if you opt-out of installing the .Net Framework Monthly Rollup,” Haffner said. “You can choose to install the Security-Only Monthly Rollup from Windows Server Update Services or Catalog if you want to install a more scoped set of updates.”