If you are concerned about receiving the Specter and Meltdown patches, Microsoft has started to provide them on its own through a file on your 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 the arrival of the user. So, Microsoft patches for Windows via Windows Update, antivirus companies such as AVG have patched their antivirus software, and so on. Intel also created patches, as it did recently for the Haswell and Broadwell CPUs. But unlike Microsoft, Intel does not directly send those patches to end users but uses its network of PC manufacturers and motherboard providers to distribute them, after appropriate testing by each provider.
Microsoft falls in an area between the two. He has been responsible for Windows patching for Meltdown and Specter and distributes patches from Intel to his various Surface products. Now Microsoft will archive both its patches and those of Intel.
Currently, the microcode that is being archived is only a fraction of the Intel patches available (which so far cover the Skylake microprocessors of the H, S, U and Y series). The microcode is available as part of a patch for Windows 10 version 1709 (update of Fall Creators): KB4090007. That comes as part of the Microsoft update catalog. It is an independent update, which means that it will not be part of a later “rollup” update.
What is not clear is that whether Microsoft will also remove the Intel microcode from Windows Update or not. Historically, Windows Update has provided a checkbox to allow users to receive patches for other hardware within their PC or connected to it, and not only for Windows. It seems that Intel is using Microsoft’s distribution network to make the Specter patches reach computers faster.