Microsoft, back in September of 2024, announced that it was bringing a new feature that would allow Windows Updates to automatically install right at the initial setup, ie, the OOBE or Out of Box Experience. This was a feature designed for enterprises and was meant to be managed via Intune and Windows Autopilot. It would essentially deliver quality updates to make systems as secure from the get-go as possible.
Quality Windows Updates, if you are wondering, are the monthly cumulative updates called Patch Tuesdays that bring new features, bug fixes, as well as security patches, as they resolve many security flaws and vulnerabilities including zero-days. The latest quality updates, for example, are the December 2025 Patch Tuesday releases for Windows 11 (KB5072033, KB5071417) and Windows 10 (KB5071546, KB5071544).
However, within just a few days, the company confirmed that it was delaying it following feedback from the industry and IT admins.
To make it easier and more convenient to apply the updates via OOBE, Microsoft earlier this year in February 2025 introduced new policies that admins could apply in order to deploy updates according to their devices" readiness. A new Group Policy as well as an Intune (MDM) policy were announced. The approach was quite similar to feature update deployment policies that Microsoft had introduced earlier.
Later on in August, Microsoft shared new details on how system administrators could deploy these changes. However, this week, the tech giant has confirmed that it has delayed the feature to January 2026 and that it will no longer be enabled by default, as Microsoft adds that "this policy will be available starting with the January 2026 security update and will no longer be enabled by default."
In terms of requirements, Microsoft says that systems should be running Windows 11 22H2 or later on an Enterprise, Pro, Education, or SE edition, and that devices should be Entra-joined or Entra hybrid-joined and configured with Microsoft Intune with a Windows Autopilot Enrollment Status Page (ESP) profile. Of course, as expected, the latest November 2025 OOBE update should be pre-installed.
You can find the blog post here on Microsoft"s official Tech Community website.