There are several reasons that an electronic device needs to be updated regularly. Here are a few:
- System stability
- Security
- New features
1. System stability: Programmers are not perfect. We all make mistakes, either in design or in implementation. As the complexities of software increase, so will the ability to maintain a good, stable code-base. For this reason, updates are published, addressing issues that can slow down your system over time, burn your hard drive, blue-screen or just not work properly. Updates try to address these issues.
2. Security: Vulnerabilities exist in every piece of electronic equipment you have. Period. Everything has a failure rate. People are out there with the sole purpose of hacking into your system. Once they penetrate one device, should you have the same username/password on anything, else, they own that too. Vulnerabilities need to be plugged to address these vulnerabilities and lesson the incidence of identity theft, spam-bots, and other elements of cyber-crime. Yes, your little unpatched web-cam, computer, tablet or dvr can be turned into a hub of cyber-crime without you even knowing it. Updates are released to stifle this type of activity.
3. New features. This area can be sometimes frustrating. We all know change is bad. It forces us to learn new things. Sometimes, I wish I were still using my C=64 to browse the web… However, progress is progress. We cannot move forward in life if we do not accept change. This goes the same for electronic devices. New features can be exciting, frustrating or both at the same time. Updates sometimes are released to give the device new capabilities, sometimes they actually remove capabilities to be better in-line with legal issues.
One recent update to Windows XP was simply a notification that support was ending on April 8, 2014. (If you are still using XP, your next stop should be http://www.dell.com or any other place that will sell you a new system.)
There is a difference between an update and an upgrade. Updates address issues within a system for various reasons. Upgrades replace that system. Microsoft Windows XP is one example of a forced upgrade. Everything has an end-of-life for support. Many items are unsupported before you leave the store with them. Microsoft Windows XP was supported for 12 years. A lot has changed in the computing world in 12 years. Enough is enough, time to move on. Nevertheless, official Microsoft support for that operating system is gone. Now, the fun begins with cyber-crime as this element of our society is hard at work trying to identify these systems and exploit them. XP will increasingly be the target of Zero-Day Exploits. You can google that term or wait for an upcoming post on this website, but the end result is that if you have an XP system connected to a network, you are now part of the problem by giving “them” a launchpad for evil.
I love my Amiga and C=64 emulators. I do not use them to do anything of significance. They are there to entertain me and take me back to the roots of my programming experiences. I would hope that you will move out-dated systems into this category of your life.
In closing: All modern systems have a method of updating. As a responsible Netizen, your duty is to learn how to do this and then do it. Microsoft Systems us Microsoft Update or Windows Update (depending on your system’s configuration). Different Linux distributions have their own methods of updates. (yum update, apt-get update/upgrade, etc). Apple products operate through the App Store or iTunes.
It is our duty to keep these systems and our information safe. If we don’t learn the fundamentals needed to use these systems properly, we are slightly better than the criminals exploiting them.
Thanks for reading. J