When a program forces an update down your throat, let it. There’s no good excuse for not using updated software, whereas there are several reasons to use the latest version of your favorite programs. Yes, all of us often hate change, but would you rather stick with the risks of an old, decrepit software than enjoy the convenience of its new, improved version?
Why Do Updates Matter?
Updates are essential for your apps to give you a sustained, positive experience as you use them. They have several important purposes, which is why you shouldn’t just ignore your apps every time they nag you to download and install updates.
Arguably the most important reason for updating is to keep your apps secured. Good developers often have their products undergo rigorous testing during the development phase to ensure that no security holes or flaws exist in the code. Removing these flaws is important, as they can be exploited by hackers in order to install malware or gain control of your computer. Unfortunately, developers do get careless from time to time, putting up their products for sale with flaws left unfixed. To make up for their shortcomings, developers roll out security fixes and vulnerability patches through updates.
Updates may also introduce optimizations in the software code. An optimized software is capable of working more efficiently and using fewer system resources. In other words, you can expect an increase in performance of your computer as you use an updated software. An optimized software also plays nicely with other software, allowing you to multi-task and run multiple programs without suffering from noticeable lags and freezing.
In addition, updating your software applications keeps them stable. Flaws in the code may not introduce security issues so much as cause crashes, freezes, and other inconveniences to the user. Updates fix these flaws to improve usability.
And finally, updates may introduce new features for you to enjoy. These features tend to be minor additions—bigger features are often reserved for the next edition or major release of the software—but at least you still get something new to experiment.
When Should You Update Your Apps?
Software developers would be remiss to think that average users will habitually visit their websites to find, download and install new updates manually. The developers must instead design their apps to communicate with an online server and check for updates automatically on a regular basis. If updates are available, these apps should promptly notify their users.
You should pay attention to update notifications whenever you receive them. Oftentimes, the notifications may provide details about the purpose of the updated software. If they mention fixes for critical vulnerabilities and major bugs, you should download and install the updates as soon as possible.
Regularly checking for updated software is a hassle, especially for people on a very busy schedule. Fortunately, many apps today feature silent, automatic updates. These apps no longer bother to ask users for permission; they just download updates immediately and only notify users after the updates have already been installed.
Truth be told, this forced-update behavior upsets some users for a number of reasons. First, these users are worried that updates may cause catastrophic issues on their computers. Indeed, updates meant for fixing problems may be problematic themselves, introducing newer bugs and security holes that worsen the state of the software (and the computer) instead of improving it. For instance, a McAfee antivirus update in 2010 caused Windows XP SP3 computers to suffer from an infinite reboot loop. In May 2016, Microsoft released a software update that crashed Windows 7 computers. Note that these bad updates are few and far between, and only a small number of unlucky users tend to be affected. On the other hand, millions of computers end up becoming part of a botnet because of vulnerabilities left unfixed. Also in their defense, when developers accidentally roll out flawed updated software, they often immediately release newer updates that undo the damages caused by prior updates.
Some users also fret about developers using automatic updates to push any code, especially the malicious kind, and do whatever they please to the computers. To counter that point, the fact that users installed their software in the first place means developers already have the capacity to do anything on their computers. The reason they haven’t done so is because they want to build trust and credibility with their customers. The lesson here is to install software from trusted developers and to use security software to keep suspicious programs under control.
The benefits that updates bring still far outweigh the potential problems the updates may introduce. Whenever available, you should enable your apps to download silent updates. This saves you time and keeps your apps secure and bug-free.
How to Configure Your Apps to Download and Install Updated Software Automatically
While many apps are already set to run silent, automatic updates by default, you should check and confirm. The option to enable automatic updates vary from app to app, but in general go to the app’s settings or preferences, and look for the update section. There should be a checkbox or toggle to turn on the automatic updates.
Use a Special Software to Check for Updates
Yes, we know. Checking each and every software for updates can be a chore, and you can’t waste time on this when there are better things to do. Fortunately, software programs are available for this purpose. They can find outdated programs on your computer and apply updates to them automatically.
One such software is Personal Software Inspector by Secunia (now acquired by Flexera Software). Free for personal use, this update monitoring software supports thousands of applications and installs their respective updates without further user interaction. It even detects applications that are no longer supported by their developers. These are software that you should uninstall and replace immediately because they may have vulnerabilities left unfixed.
