Microsoft is pretty good at patching its software, with the second Tuesday of every month dedicated to rolling out patches, updates, and drivers. Adobe followed suit just last month, adopting Patch Tuesday as the day they would unleash their updates to the masses. Now Google has followed suit.
This all seems to stem from Microsoft’s decision to bundle Flash in with Windows 8 and RT. With Adobe updating Flash Player on the same day Microsoft rolls out its latest software patches, Google’s hand has been forced as it bakes Flash Player into Chrome and is required to update the browser as soon as Adobe updates its Flash Player. So when Microsoft update, so does Adobe and now Google.
Security professionals are looking at this move as a good thing. Jason Miller R & D Manager at VMware has said:
It"s good to see vendors coordinate like this….. The biggest win [for users] is if all the vendors provided an advance notification so security teams could plan accordingly. Without proper notice, we are really in the same boat as before, where the surprise updates catch you off guard.
Although Google is not sticking to a set Patch Tuesday schedule for releasing updates; Chrome is regularly patched, and will continue to be patched without a set schedule, each month. But when Adobe patches Flash Player on the second Tuesday of each month, Google will have to patch Chrome accordingly, therefore taking part in Patch Tuesday"s operations.
It’s good that the major software providers are starting to synchronise their updates, even if it isn’t quite on their own terms.
Source: PC World