Microsoft announced,Its Windows Server 2025 hotpatching feature preview will end on June 30 and will transition to a paid subscription service starting on July 1.This feature allows security updates to be applied without rebooting the system, which is attractive to businesses that need to keep their systems running.
In August 2024, Microsoft announced a preview version of the hot patch feature for Windows Server 2025 running on Azure. A month later, Microsoft made it available for Windows Server 2025 instances controlled through Arc hybrid cloud and multi-cloud management tools, including locally deployed Standard Edition and Data Center Edition.
Hari Pulapaka, general manager of Microsoft Windows Server, once said that the hot patch function will "change the rules of the game", simplify the change control process, shorten the patch window time, and make it easier for administrators to coordinate work. He also joked that administrators might finally be able to see their families over the weekend.
However, the free era of this feature is coming to an end. Starting from July 1, the hot patch feature will be converted into a paid service at a price of US$1.50 per core per month (approximately RMB 10.9 yuan).
Azure editions of Windows Server (Azure IaaS, Azure On-Premise, and Azure Stack) will continue to receive hotfixes for free.
Of course, this feature does not require a restart at all. In January, April, July and October of each year, Windows devices that support hot patches will install cumulative security updates and restart. In the following two months, the devices will receive hot patch updates that only contain security fixes without restarting.
For users who are testing the preview version of the hot patch function, if they do not want to pay, they can cancel their subscription before June 30, and Microsoft will continue to provide normal update services.