-: In order to maintain the security of our software,
it's important for us to implement updates and patches.
But, what exactly is a Patch?
A patch is a single problem-fixing piece of software
designed for an operating system or an application.
Essentially, when we find a bug in the code,
this is going to create a problem for us.
And a patch is used to correct it.
You may have also heard the term Hotfix.
What's a hotfix? Well, it's a single problem-fixing
piece of software designed
for an operating system or application.
Now, wait a minute.
That's the exact same definition as a patch.
Jason, are you trying to confuse us? Well, no.
Originally, a hotfix was different than a patch.
A hotfix could be installed without
requiring a reboot of your system.
But a patch required a system reboot.
Over time, patches and hotfixes
began to be used interchangeably by most manufacturers.
Today, whether you call it a patch or a hotfix,
it really refers to the same thing.
Patches and hotfixes are both considered a general term.
But there are more specific types of updates as well.
Let's look at five categories of updates.
First, we have a Security Update.
Security updates are a type of software code
that's specifically issued from a product-specific
security-related vulnerability.
So, if a hacker finds a bug in the code for Microsoft Word,
that may allow them to breach your security.
Microsoft would release a security update that contains
a patch to correct the bug in the code.
The second type of update is a Critical Update.
A critical update is a piece of software that's designed
for a specific problem that addresses a critical,
non-security bug in a piece of software.
For example, if Google Chrome kept crashing every time
you tried to load Facebook, Google would release a
critical update that patches this non-security focused bug.
A third type of update we have is a Service Pack.
A service pack is actually a grouping of other patches.
It contains hotfixes, security updates, critical updates,
and possibly even some feature or design changes.
Service packs are commonly seen
with an operating system update.
As you can imagine, Windows has a lot of security
and critical updates that have been released since
the initial version comes out.
If I installed a brand new copy of Windows 7 today,
there would be several hundred patches and updates
that I would have to install, to bring it up to
the most current and up-to-date version.
Service packs provide a single installation file
that contains hundreds of these individual updates
that can be installed.
Generally, a service pack is only
released once every other year.
Any updates that have been released
since the last service pack
would still have to be installed individually.
The next type, is called a Windows Update.
This is a recommended update to fix a non-critical problem
that certain users have found, and it may also provide
some additional features or capabilities.
For example, if Microsoft wanted to add a new way to display
animated background images on your desktop,
they could do this as part of a Windows update.
The final type of update is a Driver Update.
Driver updates provide either a security fix
or additional features for a supported piece of hardware.
For example, you might receive a driver update
for your network card. And this can help you increase
the efficiency in how it sends and receives data.
In Windows 10, the windows update program is used
to manage all of the different types
of updates directly from Microsoft.
And it can be configured to allow automated updates
to occur as well.
This is what most home users will do
to increase their security.