Microsoft on Wednesday gave IT managers a speedier way to get their patches installed by making it possible to use an existing Windows utility to deliver and deploy service packs.
Microsoft said this week that Software Update Services can now be used to deploy service packs, whereas in the past, IT managers had to use a separate patch management system, such as Systems Management Server (SMS), to get the packs installed.
The current version of SUS, SUS 1.0 with SP1, will not only provide service pack delivery, but will also roll out Windows XP SP1, Windows 2000 SP4 and future service packs for Windows 2000, XP and Windows Server 2003, according to Microsoft.
"It's been one of the most requested features of SUS," said Rod Trent, publisher of myITforum.com, a Web community dedicated to SMS and other Windows management issues. "This allows companies that don't have another patch management system in place to provide service pack delivery for free."
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