It’s a service from Microsoft that provides a listing of updates that can be distributed over a corporate network. You can use it as a one-stop location for finding Microsoft software updates, drivers, and hotfixes.
Microsoft offers important, recommended, and optional updates. Important updates provide significant benefits, such as improved security and reliability. Optional updates might include, for example, new or updated driver software for devices that you have added to your computer. The Microsoft Update Catalog now provides access to hotfixes. Hotfixes are generally provided by Microsoft Customer Service & Support.
If you are running Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) 3.0, System Center Essentials (SCE), or System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) you can import updates directly into these applications. After you’ve imported updates, you can manage them like any other updates that you obtain using WSUS, SCE or SCCM, with some exceptions:
- Many updates are already available to you using the synchronizing capability in WSUS, SCE and SCCM. Security updates, critical updates, service packs, update rollups, definition updates, and critical drivers can be configured to synchronize with your server automatically. You can still import these updates into your application by using Microsoft Update Catalog, although depending on how you configure WSUS, SCE, and SCCM, you may not need to.
- Some updates require users to accept Microsoft Software License Terms or walk through other update specific installation steps. Microsoft Update Catalog will notify you if you are importing these updates.
- Occasionally, updates are for download only. These updates might not have the necessary “applicability” logic for WSUS, SCE or SCCM to identify whether the update is applicable to client computers. Updates that are available for download only cannot be imported.
WEB: http://test.catalog.update.microsoft.com/v7/site/Home.aspx
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