diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 141d89bee..13d7d8926 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@
     "markdown-preview": "0.6.0",
     "metrics": "0.7.0",
     "package-generator": "0.10.0",
+    "release-notes": "0.2.0",
     "settings-view": "0.25.0",
     "snippets": "0.6.0",
     "spell-check": "0.6.0",
diff --git a/src/atom-application.coffee b/src/atom-application.coffee
index dd09dcef6..a4f019dcb 100644
--- a/src/atom-application.coffee
+++ b/src/atom-application.coffee
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ socketPath = '/tmp/atom.sock'
 module.exports =
 class AtomApplication
   _.extend @prototype, EventEmitter.prototype
+  updateVersion: null
 
   # Public: The entry point into the Atom application.
   @open: (options) ->
@@ -147,7 +148,9 @@ class AtomApplication
 
     autoUpdater.on 'ready-for-update-on-quit', (event, version, quitAndUpdateCallback) =>
       event.preventDefault()
+      @updateVersion = version
       @applicationMenu.showDownloadUpdateItem(version, quitAndUpdateCallback)
+      atomWindow.sendCommand('window:update-available', version) for atomWindow in @windows
 
     # A request from the associated render process to open a new render process.
     ipc.on 'open', (processId, routingId, options) =>
@@ -307,3 +310,8 @@ class AtomApplication
   promptForPath: ({devMode}={}) ->
     pathsToOpen = dialog.showOpenDialog title: 'Open', properties: ['openFile', 'openDirectory', 'multiSelections', 'createDirectory']
     @openPaths({pathsToOpen, devMode})
+
+  # Public: If an update is available, it returns the new version string
+  # otherwise it returns null.
+  getUpdateVersion: ->
+    @updateVersion
diff --git a/src/atom-window.coffee b/src/atom-window.coffee
index 5da1d3b2e..9e82a3542 100644
--- a/src/atom-window.coffee
+++ b/src/atom-window.coffee
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ BrowserWindow = require 'browser-window'
 Menu = require 'menu'
 MenuItem = require 'menu-item'
 ContextMenu = require 'context-menu'
-app = require 'app'
 dialog = require 'dialog'
 ipc = require 'ipc'
 path = require 'path'
@@ -96,6 +95,7 @@ class AtomWindow
     if @loaded
       @focus()
       @sendCommand('window:open-path', {pathToOpen, initialLine})
+      @sendCommand('window:update-available', global.atomApplication.getUpdateVersion()) if global.atomApplication.getUpdateVersion()
     else
       @browserWindow.once 'window:loaded', => @openPath(pathToOpen, initialLine)