Early Bird

ITS adds flexibility to computer updates

A new schedule for software and security enhancements is rolled out.

By Corey Oxenbury

September 19, 2019

Software developers and service providers regularly update their products to introduce new features, fix bugs or improve security. Information Technology Services regularly gathers and tests these updates before pushing them out in bulk to University computers, avoiding the unpredictable timing of some update installations and ensuring that each update is compatible with the Metropolitan State University of Denver computing environment.

While these updates were historically installed in a narrow window during the workday, ITS has recently enhanced the software-update system to offer users of managed MSU Denver computers more time and more control over when required updates are installed.

For managed MSU Denver Windows computers, a digest of security and software updates will be made available in Software Center on a monthly basis. Users will be informed via a system tray notification and will have two weeks to apply these updates at their convenience before the updates install automatically. Users can specify their business hours within Software Center, letting the system install the updates when their computer isn’t in use.

Managed MSU Denver Mac computers will continue to receive updates through the native macOS Software Update and will continue to prompt users when updates are available.

For more information, including how to schedule your computer’s business hours in Software Center, please visit the ITS Knowledgebase.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the ITS Service Desk at 303-352-7548 or support.msudenver.edu.