In the wake of that devastating CrowdStrike outage this July, Microsoft promised to do better even as it insisted that this was an anomaly.

Apparently unwilling to roll the dice again -- or at least not risk further blows to its credibility -- the company on Tuesday, during Microsoft Ignite 2024, explained how it's overhauling Windows to prevent such events.

Many of these changes won't take effect for quite some time.

A new feature that will roll out in early 2025, Quick Machine Recovery will enable IT admins to remotely apply certain software fixes when the Windows machines won't even boot. Microsoft is also testing a way to let security products like antivirus software run outside of "kernel mode," meaning they'll be able to function much like most Windows apps.

A change in the kernel mode, planned for launch in private preview by July 2025, removes the root cause of the CrowdStrike outage. In a faulty update of the Falcon software of CrowdStrike, an issue cropped up in the core of the Windows operating system, that is, the Windows kernel. Infected computers crashed.

"This change will help security developers provide a high level of security [and] easier recovery, and there will be less impact to Windows in the event of a crash or mistake," David Weston, Microsoft VP of enterprise and OS security, wrote in a blog post shared with TechCrunch.

Microsoft is also previewing Administrator Protection, a feature that will allow Windows users without administrator permissions to make changes on their PCs in those instances. Administrator Protection creates a short-lived, isolated token that gives users administrator rights, and upon completing the task, instantaneously deletes the token, Microsoft said.

"With Administrator Protection, if some system change requires an administrator's rights, such as installing some apps, the user will be securely prompted to accept the change with Windows Hello," Weston writes in his post. Windows Hello is Windows' biometric authentication system.

"It will also be disruptive to attackers because it no longer provides for automatic, direct access to the kernel or other critical system security until approved," he wrote.

For example, at the IT management level, Microsoft is introducing hot-patching in preview for Windows 11 Enterprise 24H2 and Windows 365. Hotpatching basically involved downloading updates in the background and applying them right away without requiring a restart of the device.

The company is under intense scrutiny over how it handled the CrowdStrike incident and pressure for failing to stop hackers with links to China and Russia from breaching its internal systems. U.S. government agencies described Microsoft's corporate culture as one that made security investments and risk management a lessened priority.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has claimed that security is now Microsoft's top priority. The equivalent of 34,000 full-time engineers are revamping the company's cybersecurity practices, the company said, and every employee is now being judged on their security contributions after Microsoft tied security efforts to regular performance reviews. It has also named more than a dozen deputy chief information security officers to serve in its product groups.