Microsoft Extends Support for Windows Server Update Services, but Emphasizes It’s a Temporary Delay
Microsoft has announced that it will not discontinue support for Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) for the time being. This decision comes two weeks before the previously planned end date of April 18, 2025, and is based on user feedback. According to Microsoft, synchronization with WSUS servers will remain available for now, despite earlier plans to discontinue it.
Why This Delay?
Disconnected devices still prove challenging for Microsoft’s cloud alternatives, such as Intune and Windows Autopatch. The plan was to continue making drivers available through the Microsoft Update Catalog, but to stop importing them into WSUS. That change has now been postponed.
Criticism of WSUS
According to some administrators, WSUS is outdated. The system dates back more than twenty years, when IT infrastructure was less well-protected. Today, WSUS falls short in several areas: it doesn’t force updates, doesn’t provide real time visibility of systems, and doesn’t differentiate between offline devices and connectivity issues.
Gene Moody, CTO at patch cloud platform Action1, even calls WSUS a “security problem” in 2025 in The Register. According to him, the system is too slow, too manual, and no longer suitable for modern security challenges.
WSUS No Longer Has a Future
The delay is intended for organizations with contractual obligations to continue working with WSUS, or for networks that don’t have access to the cloud. The new strategy therefore doesn’t work for everyone yet. For very limited networks, WSUS remains necessary for now, but they will soon have to look for an alternative.