On December 11, 2025, Microsoft made an announcement stating that it would delay the implementation of the feature — “automatic installation of quality updates during the Out-of-Box Experience (OOBE) for enterprise editions of Windows 11” — until January 2026. Moreover, this feature would no longer be enabled by default. Initially slated for a September 2024 release, this feature was designed to automatically install the latest monthly cumulative updates once a device was unboxed and connected to a network. This was achieved by integrating Microsoft Intune and Windows Autopilot, aiming to ensure that systems were “secure right out of the box.”

However, there were concerns that this feature might lengthen the time required for device deployment or interfere with customized processes. Consequently, the plan received continuous feedback and skepticism from the industry and IT administrators. In response to these concerns, Microsoft rolled out new Group Policy and Mobile Device Management (MDM) policies in February 2025. These policies empowered administrators to determine whether to apply updates based on the readiness of the devices.

By August of the same year, Microsoft further refined the details of the deployment. Nevertheless, it ultimately decided to postpone the full rollout to 2026 and eliminated the “enabled by default” setting, transforming it into an optional configuration for administrators. Organizations intending to enable this feature in 2026 must make sure that their devices are running Windows 11 22H2 or a later version, are enrolled in Entra (formerly known as Azure AD) or an Entra hybrid environment, are configured with Microsoft Intune that includes an Enrollment Status Page (ESP) profile, and have the latest OOBE updates preinstalled for compatibility.