Microsoft has officially confirmed that Configuration Manager will transition to an annual release cadence, with Intune as the primary focus for innovation.

The change will take effect in fall 2026, with a few more editions in the interim - 2509 in December 2025, and 2603 in March 2026 – before the first annual release in September next year, with 2609.

The decision, according to Microsoft, is to "align with the Windows client security and stability cadence (H2)." The "top priority is to maintain a secure, reliable Configuration Manager experience."

In practice, this will mean hotfix roll-ups will only happen "when absolutely necessary" and critical updates and patches will be applied as needed.

Microsoft Configuration Manager (MCM), first introduced in 1994 alongside Windows NT 3.5 in

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