What is difference between Cumulative updates,Service pack,hot fixes and security patches?
Are these are at OS level or SharePoint level?
Add a comment
|
3 Answers
Microsoft uses these standard terminologies for software updates which means these are available for OS, SharePoint and other products of Microsoft.
Description of the standard terminology that is used to describe Microsoft software updates is a nice article to go through and understand them briefly
Also I am able to extract the brief description as below, from this article Difference between Hotfixes, Cummulative Update, Service Packs and Feature Packs which is mainly from dynamics community, hence answers your question whether its only for SharePoint/OS.
Hotfixes
A hotfix is created to address a specific issue, problem, or customer scenario. A hotfix can address either a single issue or a cumulative set of issues. Hotfixes are distributed only to those customers, partners, and organizations that Microsoft technical support personnel determine can benefit from the changes that are made to the code. Each hotfix includes documentation that indicates what files, tables, code, or functions are changed by the hotfix.
Microsoft publishes a corresponding Knowledge Base (KB) article for every hotfix that is released for every Microsoft product. These KB articles describe the changes that the hotfix makes to objects, database tables, or files, or other code. Each hotfix is released to address a specific issue or scenario to restore the regular operation of the software.
Cumulative updates
A cumulative update (CU) is an update that contains all previous hotfixes to date. Additionally, a CU contains fixes for issues that meet the criteria for hotfix acceptance. These criteria may include the availability of a workaround, the effect on the customer, the reproducibility of the problem, and the complexity of the code that must be changed. When you plan a deployment that will use any of the industry solutions, we recommend that you install the industry solution before you install cumulative updates.
Important: Any hotfixes that you previously applied are not included in a cumulative update are lost after you install the cumulative update. You must reapply those hotfixes after your installation.
Service packs
A service pack is a tested, cumulative set of all hotfixes and updates. Service packs may also contain additional fixes for problems that have been found internally since the release of the product, and a limited number of design changes or features that were requested by customers.
answered Aug 21, 2015 at 13:12
Please refer to the following link, no one explains it better than Todd Klint! Hope it helps you out.
answered Aug 21, 2015 at 13:09
Hotfixes
A hotfix is created to address a specific issue, problem, or customer scenario. A hotfix can address either a single issue or a cumulative set of issues. Hotfixes are distributed only to those customers, partners, and organizations that Microsoft technical support personnel determine can benefit from the changes that are made to the code. Each hotfix includes documentation that indicates what files, tables, code, or functions are changed by the hotfix.
Microsoft publishes a corresponding Knowledge Base (KB) article for every hotfix that is released for every Microsoft product. These products include Microsoft Dynamics AX. These KB articles describe the changes that the hotfix makes to objects, database tables, or files, or other code. Each hotfix is released to address a specific issue or scenario to restore the regular operation of the software. You must review the corresponding KB article to evaluate whether you have to apply the hotfix in your Microsoft Dynamics AX implementation.
Cumulative updates
A cumulative update (CU) is an update that contains all previous hotfixes to date. Additionally, a CU contains fixes for issues that meet the criteria for hotfix acceptance. These criteria may include the availability of a workaround, the effect on the customer, the reproducibility of the problem, and the complexity of the code that must be changed. When you plan a deployment that will use any of the industry solutions, we recommend that you install the industry solution before you install cumulative updates.
Important: Any hotfixes that you previously applied are not included in a cumulative update are lost after you install the cumulative update. You must reapply those hotfixes after your installation.
Service packs
A service pack is a tested, cumulative set of all hotfixes and updates. Service packs may also contain additional fixes for problems that have been found internally since the release of the product, and a limited number of design changes or features that were requested by customers.
Feature packs
A feature pack is a group of updates that relate to a feature area or group of functionality. Feature packs contain design changes or features that were requested by customers, and may also contain additional fixes for problems that have been found internally since the release of the product.
Also refer below links
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh335183.aspx
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=39096
