In case you haven't heard as of yet, Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) is a technology that Microsoft is continuing to support but is no longer going to be developed, and eventually won't be supported any longer. The writing has been on the wall for quite some time now that Microsoft believes in cloud endpoint management across the board. We can see this with the massive development and investment in Windows Autopatch, Microsoft Intune, and Azure Update Manager.
It has had a long run, being introduced in 2005, it is one of those utilities that I think we all agree that we "love to hate". When it works, it works good, but sometimes it doesn't work. However, I would say by in large, it is still the primary tool that enterprise organizations have been using on-premises for decades and are only now starting to see they need to find alternative solutions for.
Updates will continue to be published through WSUS "for now"
Now that WSUS is deprecated, it doesn't mean Microsoft is immediately pulling the plug. Instead, it sounds like they will take a phased approach.
Microsoft has officially announced that Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) is now deprecated, but plans to maintain current functionality and continue publishing updates through the channel.
It is one of the services that it mentioned in the article:
Features removed or no longer developed starting with Windows Server 2025 (preview) that will be either removed or deprecated in Windows Server 2025 Preview.
Writing been on the wall for it going away for quite some time
WSUS is one of those services that we really haven't seen an update to in 3 forevers! I mean, I believe we have been on WSUS 3.1 since Windows 2008 or so (don't check me on that), but you guys get the point, it just hasn't much and hasn't really been a service that Microsoft has looked to invest in, in quite some time now.
Microsoft hasn't change or added anything new in quite some time and it looks like now the full plan is written in stone, complete deprecation in favor of other services:
Will it be found in Windows Server 2025?
Yes, it looks like it will still be included as a role in Windows Server 2025, but this looks to be the end of the road Windows Server OS for WSUS.
What do you guys think about this? Any readers here in the VHT forum currently managing WSUS and looking at other solutions or actively migrating to another solution?