There is a new naming pattern being implemented in recent Windows updates. It goes something like this:
[Release] [Update description] for [OS] [Version] for [Arch]-based Systems [KB]
Release
The year and month in a YYYY-MM format that the update was released.
Update description
The types of updates that are released, for example:
- Cumulative Update
- Update
- Security Update for .Net Framework
- Security Only Quality Update
- Security Monthly Quality Rollup
OS and version
For example,
- Windows 10 Version 1703
- Windows 10 Version 1607
- Windows 10 Version 1511
- Windows 10 Version 1507
- Windows 8.1
- Windows 7
- Windows Server 2016
- Windows Server 2012 R2
- Windows Server 2012
- Windows Server 2008 R2
Arch
Updates are now architecture-specific, meaning that x86 updates only apply for x86-based Systems (32-bit systems) and x64 updates only for x64-based Systems.
KB
Like before, each update still gets a specific KB number that you can do a quick Google search and find the article specifically for the update.
Putting all together, here are two updates released to Windows Server 2012 in May.
However, as you can see, there are still inconsistencies happening in the recently released updates. Hopefully, the future updates will have a more consistent name pattern that follows new name convention.