Microsoft will host the specter and meltdown patches on its own website

If you are concerned about receiving the Specter and Meltdown patches, Microsoft has started supplying them on its own via a file on their website.

Microsoft wants security patches for Meltdown and Specter to be more accessible

Until recently, the Specter and Meltdown patches have followed the same pattern for user reach: Microsoft patches for Windows via Windows Update, antivirus companies like AVG have patched their antivirus software, and so on. Intel also created patches, as it recently did for Haswell and Broadwell CPUs. But unlike Microsoft, Intel doesn't send those patches directly to end users, but instead uses its network of PC manufacturers and motherboard vendors to distribute them, after appropriate testing by each vendor.

Microsoft falls into an area between the two. He has been responsible for patching Windows for Meltdown and Specter, and distributes patches from Intel to its various Surface products. Microsoft will now archive both its own and Intel's patches.

Currently, the microcode being archived is only a fraction of the available patches from Intel (which so far cover the Skylake H, S, U and Y series microprocessors). The microcode is available as part of a patch for Windows 10 version 1709 (Fall Creators update): KB4090007, which will be stored as part of the Microsoft update catalog. It is a standalone update, which means it will not be part of a later rollup update.

What is not clear is whether Microsoft will also remove the microcode from Intel via Windows Update. Historically, Windows Update has offered a check box to allow users to receive patches for other hardware within or connected to their PC, and not just for Windows. It appears that Intel is using Microsoft's distribution network to make Specter patches reach computers faster.

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