Update Your Business Devices with Microsoft Intune in 2026

Keeping business devices updated sounds straightforward.

Windows releases an update. The employee installs it. Job done.

In reality, businesses often end up with a mixture of laptops on different Windows versions, devices waiting for restarts, failed security updates, outdated drivers and employees clicking “Remind me later” for weeks.

That is where Microsoft Intune becomes particularly useful.

Intune gives businesses a central way to manage devices, deploy policies, monitor compliance and control how Windows updates are introduced across an organisation. In 2026, Microsoft has also integrated Windows Autopatch much more deeply into Intune's update-management experience, particularly for feature, quality and driver updates.

The objective is not to force every update onto every computer the moment Microsoft releases it.

It is to build a controlled, measurable update process that keeps devices secure without unnecessarily disrupting employees.

What Is Microsoft Intune?

Microsoft Intune is Microsoft's cloud-based endpoint-management platform.

It can be used to manage devices including:

Windows PCs and laptops

Macs

iPhones and iPads

Android devices

Company-owned equipment

Certain personally owned devices accessing business resources

IT teams can use Intune to deploy configuration policies, install applications, assess device compliance and manage access to organisational resources. Microsoft Intune compliance policies can evaluate whether devices meet requirements defined by the organisation, such as operating-system versions, BitLocker configuration or Microsoft Defender for Endpoint risk levels.

For Windows businesses, device updating is one of Intune's most useful capabilities.

Why Managed Updates Matter in 2026

Software updates are not simply about receiving new features.

They frequently contain fixes for:

Security vulnerabilities.

Reliability problems.

Operating-system faults.

Hardware compatibility.

Driver problems.

Performance issues.

The longer a known security weakness remains unpatched, the longer an attacker potentially has to exploit it.

There is another reason this matters particularly in 2026: standard Windows 10 support ended on 14 October 2025. Businesses still running ordinary unsupported Windows 10 installations need to understand whether those devices are covered by an appropriate Extended Security Updates arrangement or should be replaced or upgraded.

Intune can help organisations see what versions devices are running and build a controlled path towards supported Windows releases.

The Problem With Leaving Updates to Employees

Without central management, every person develops their own update strategy.

Some install everything immediately.

Some restart once a month.

Some keep pressing:

“Later.”

And one employee's laptop has apparently been waiting to restart since the reign of Henry VIII.

The result is inconsistency.

IT may have devices that are:

Fully patched.

Several updates behind.

Waiting for a restart.

Running unsupported Windows versions.

Failing installation repeatedly.

Missing important drivers.

That is not just inconvenient.

It makes the estate much harder to secure.

A managed approach gives IT visibility into what should be installed and whether it actually happened.

1. Use Update Rings to Control the User Experience

Update rings remain an important part of Windows update management through Intune.

An update ring can control settings including:

Deferral periods

Installation deadlines

Restart behaviour

Active hours

Notifications

User experience

Microsoft's current Intune documentation describes update-ring settings as the mechanism for balancing update compliance with user productivity, including how and when Windows updates install and restart devices.

For example, a business could have:

Test Ring

A small number of IT or technically confident users receive updates first.

Pilot Ring

A larger group covering different departments and hardware receives them next.

Production Ring

The wider business follows once obvious compatibility problems have been ruled out.

This does not mean delaying security patches indefinitely.

It means avoiding the opposite extreme where every machine changes simultaneously with no opportunity to spot unexpected problems.

Restart Deadlines Matter

Users should have reasonable flexibility.

Someone in the middle of an important Teams meeting should not suddenly lose their computer because Windows decides it is restart time.

But equally, employees should not be able to postpone security updates forever.

Intune update rings can define deadlines, grace periods and restart behaviour, giving users some control while still ensuring updates eventually complete.

That balance is crucial.

2. Use Feature Update Policies to Control Windows Versions

Feature updates are different from monthly quality updates.

A feature update moves a device onto a newer Windows release and may introduce larger changes to the operating system.

Microsoft's current Intune feature-update policies allow administrators to target a particular Windows version, hold devices on that release and schedule or gradually deploy an upgrade to a newer version.

That gives businesses much more control than simply allowing every PC to move to the newest release whenever it appears.

For example, you might want to delay a major feature update until:

A critical accounting application has been tested.

VPN software has been verified.

Specialist hardware has been checked.

The helpdesk is prepared for any user-interface changes.

Once those checks are complete, the organisation can roll the release out gradually.

That is much safer than discovering after deployment that a business-critical application doesn't behave properly.

3. Manage Monthly Quality Updates Properly

Quality updates are the regular cumulative Windows servicing updates containing security fixes, reliability improvements and other corrections.

Microsoft says these are generally released frequently — typically monthly — and that installing the latest cumulative update brings the device up to date for the Windows version it is currently running.

Intune's quality-update policies now provide more advanced deployment options, including:

Standard quality-update deployment

Expedited security updates

Hotpatch for eligible devices

Expedite policies can be useful where a particular security issue needs addressing faster than the organisation's normal deployment schedule.

Hotpatch Can Reduce Restarts

Hotpatch is particularly interesting.

For supported Windows devices and licensing configurations, eligible security updates can be installed without requiring an immediate reboot.

Microsoft says Intune's current Windows update-management platform can use hotpatch through Windows Autopatch, with hotpatch enabled by default for eligible devices unless the organisation opts out.

That does not eliminate all restarts.

Some updates will still require them.

But reducing unnecessary restart disruption can make it easier to keep endpoints protected without employees feeling that updates constantly interrupt their work.

4. Take Advantage of Windows Autopatch

This is one of the most important updates to how Intune should be discussed in 2026.

Windows Autopatch is now deeply integrated into Microsoft's cloud update-management architecture.

Microsoft describes Autopatch as controlling approved Windows Update content and says Intune leverages it for feature updates, quality updates and driver updates.

Autopatch can help automate areas such as:

Device grouping.

Gradual deployment.

Update approval.

Update reporting.

Driver management.

Readiness assessment.

Microsoft also provides Autopatch Groups, allowing organisations to distribute devices across deployment groups and coordinate gradual update rollouts.

For businesses that previously built every update process manually, Autopatch can reduce some of the administration involved.

But automation still needs governance.

You should know:

Which devices are included.

Which policies apply.

What happens when updates fail.

Who reviews alerts.

How unusual devices are handled.

Autopatch does not mean:

“Switch it on and never look at Windows Update again.”

5. Manage Driver Updates Separately

Drivers are often overlooked.

They control hardware including:

Graphics.

Wi-Fi.

Ethernet.

Audio.

Cameras.

Docking stations.

Printers.

Laptop components.

Installing the right driver can fix reliability and security problems.

Installing a problematic driver across 100 machines can create quite a different afternoon.

Intune provides dedicated driver-update policies that let administrators review, approve and deploy drivers to managed Windows devices. These policies work alongside feature and quality-update management and can also operate as part of Windows Autopatch.

For organisations with specialist hardware, this can be particularly valuable.

You may choose to approve certain drivers manually rather than treating all available driver updates identically.

6. Use Update Reporting — Don't Just Create Policies

Creating an update policy is only half the job.

You also need to know whether it worked.

Microsoft's Windows Autopatch update-readiness reporting now provides visibility across the Intune-managed Windows estate, including devices using Autopatch policies, conventional update rings and devices that are not currently under the expected update-management configuration.

Current readiness capabilities can identify issues such as:

Insufficient disk space.

Connectivity problems.

Policy conflicts.

Readiness blockers.

Safeguard holds.

Hotpatch prerequisites.

Devices at risk of failing an update.

That is a significant improvement over discovering problems only after an employee raises a ticket saying:

“Windows keeps trying to update and failing.”

Good update management should be proactive.

Find the Exceptions

The most interesting machines are often not the 95 that updated successfully.

They are the five that didn't.

Why?

No disk space?

Offline for weeks?

Unsupported hardware?

Broken Windows Update components?

Incorrect policy assignment?

A device that has quietly dropped out of management?

Those exceptions deserve investigation.

7. Combine Intune Updates With Device Compliance

Updates are part of device security, but they are not the whole story.

Intune compliance policies can assess whether devices meet organisational requirements, and those compliance results can then be combined with Microsoft Entra Conditional Access to influence whether a device is allowed to access business resources.

For example, a business might consider requirements around:

Supported operating-system versions.

Encryption.

Microsoft Defender risk.

Device management status.

The idea is powerful:

Do not simply ask whether somebody has the correct password.

Ask whether the device they are using is also in an acceptable security state.

That is particularly useful for organisations with remote and hybrid workers.

8. Don't Assume Intune Updates Every Application

This is an important limitation.

Intune's Windows update controls primarily deal with updates delivered through Microsoft's Windows update infrastructure.

Your business may also run:

Adobe applications.

Web browsers.

Accounting software.

Remote-access tools.

Specialist engineering applications.

Line-of-business software.

Those applications may use entirely different updating mechanisms.

Some can be packaged and managed through Intune.

Some require other patch-management tools or vendor-specific update systems.

A complete patch strategy therefore needs to consider:

Windows

Microsoft applications

Third-party software

Drivers

Mobile operating systems

Firmware

Unsupported software

A beautifully patched Windows laptop can still contain a six-year-old vulnerable application.

Intune Works Particularly Well for Remote Workers

Traditional device management often assumed laptops regularly returned to the office.

That is increasingly unrealistic.

Employees may work:

From home.

From customer locations.

Across multiple offices.

While travelling.

Entirely remotely.

Because Intune is cloud based, managed devices can receive policies without being connected directly to the company's office network, provided they can communicate with the required Microsoft services. The current Hamilton Group article already reflects this advantage correctly.

That makes Intune particularly well suited to modern distributed workforces.

Is Microsoft Intune Included With Microsoft 365?

Sometimes.

Not every Microsoft 365 subscription includes it.

For SMEs, Microsoft 365 Business Premium includes Intune Plan 1, giving businesses device and application management alongside Microsoft's wider identity and security capabilities.

Licensing still needs checking before deployment because different environments may have different Microsoft 365 plans, device requirements and Windows Autopatch entitlements.

Do not assume that because your employees have Word and Outlook, every Intune feature is automatically licensed.

A Sensible Intune Update Strategy for 2026

For many SMEs, a practical rollout could look like this:

1. Inventory every business device.

2. Identify Windows 10 and other unsupported systems.

3. Review Microsoft 365 and Windows licensing.

4. Enrol supported devices into Intune.

5. Create sensible deployment groups or Autopatch groups.

6. Configure update rings for restart behaviour and deadlines.

7. Use feature-update policies to control Windows releases.

8. Manage quality updates and expedited patches where required.

9. Review driver updates.

10. Monitor readiness and failed deployments.

11. Combine device management with compliance and Conditional Access.

12. Maintain a separate process for third-party software updates.

The process should then be reviewed continually.

Device management is not a one-time setup project.

The Real Benefit of Intune Is Consistency

A business with 60 laptops should not have 60 different update strategies.

Intune provides a way to turn:

“Hopefully everyone installed the update.”

into:

“We know what policy should apply, what version the device should be on and which machines need attention.”

That difference matters.

It improves security.

It improves visibility.

And it reduces the number of preventable issues that eventually land on the helpdesk.

Microsoft Intune Management With Hamilton Group

Hamilton Group can help businesses deploy and manage Microsoft Intune as part of a wider device-management and cyber-security strategy.

We can help with:

Microsoft Intune configuration

Windows Autopatch

Update rings

Feature and quality updates

Driver-update policies

Windows 11 migration

Device compliance

Microsoft Entra Conditional Access

Endpoint protection and EDR

Microsoft 365 Business Premium

Third-party patch management

Device lifecycle planning

The objective is not simply to install updates.

It is to build a controlled device-management process where computers remain supported, secure, monitored and ready for employees to work.

And if something does go wrong, our aim is to make first contact on IT support requests within 15 minutes.

Call Hamilton Group on 0330 043 0069 or visit hgmssp.com to speak with one of our Microsoft 365 and IT experts.