Death by a thousand updates

[steven36]

Rapid release cycles for operating systems and devices are worse than counterproductive

 

 

It was a simpler time when Patch Tuesday was the most significant update cycle in technology. Of course there were patches and updates for other operating systems and applications, but the time between them was typically lengthy.

 

Back then, operating systems had long lifecycles. Full releases were several years apart, with minor updates in between. Our mobile phones never received updates, but of course we didn’t have smartphones and tablets as we’ve come to know them today. Our home entertainment systems were the same, as were our cars. Software updates happened at work, on an unusual day.

 

Today, everything needs updates, seemingly constantly. This trail leads from the smallest to the largest technology elements in our modern daily lives.

 

I turn on the TV and the streaming media box either immediately requests an update or has completed one, and the interface has changed. The TV itself prompts for a software update. My mobile phone is telling me 22 apps need to be updated -- 30 on my tablet. My laptop pops up a reminder about new updates that need to be installed every day, and as I’m in the middle of something important, I tell it not today. Unbelievably, Windows users are losing that capability, as Microsoft has begun forcibly upgrading Windows 7 systems to Windows 10. Frankly, that should be a crime.

 

In my server room, the virtualization platform has a bunch of available updates, as do the VMs themselves, the BIOS on the host servers, the OS on the storage, and the firmware on the switches connecting everything. I could literally spend an entire week doing nothing but downloading and installing updates to the various parts of the lab, mostly for little or no actual gain.

 

The fact is, just because updates are available for a given piece of technology does not mean that they are required or even that they will improve anything. The updates may, in fact, reduce functionality or introduce problems where there were none before. This rule applies to everything from the 99-cent app on your phone to the OS on a $250,000 storage array. Updating for the sake of keeping current generally causes more problems than it could ever solve. It’s downright unhealthy.

 

Now, if an update brings specific requirements or addresses critical security issues, that changes the game -- but if the change log contains nothing germane to normal operation, you shouldn’t feel the need to upset the apple cart.

 

The worst offenders of this maddening update treadmill are Apple and Microsoft. There is absolutely no reason that we should see the release of a full operating system in less than a year’s time. This insanity must stop.

 

Apple, specifically, is doing nobody any favors by pumping out Mac OS X 10.9 on Oct. 22, 2013; Mac OS X 10.10 on Oct. 16, 2014; and Mac OS X 10.11 on Sept. 30, 2015. Before these sprints, Mac OS X enjoyed an 18- to 24-month release cycle, and the world was better for it. The releases were more mature and stable, and the users didn’t have a sword over their heads to upgrade because other software was running alongside this fast-paced release cycle. It might seem that Apple has accelerated the pace simply to encourage its users to buy newer hardware. Nah, that couldn’t be it.

 

Microsoft is joining that party. Historically, big Microsoft desktop and server releases were many years in the making, with Windows XP living an exceptionally long time. Most releases were at least three years apart.

Recently, however, that’s changed. Windows 7 to Windows 8 was three years. Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 was less than a year, but only because Windows 8 was a disaster. Windows 10 came roughly 20 months later, followed by the version 1511 update in four months, and Microsoft has been forcing Windows 10 down everyone’s throats ever since.

 

Don’t we have enough to do? Do we really need to reserve a few hours each week to update myriad devices, large and small, or deal with the fallout the updates cause? On the business side, this race is causing big problems with users because companies can't keep up with the cycles and users have possibly three different Windows versions between work and home, all with different interfaces.

 

Rapid release cycles are not good for anyone or anything. All they'll do is generate resentment from the masses because they’re becoming a constant hassle. That’s certainly not good for the most important reason that we install updates: to plug security holes. The faster pace may help boost the corporate coffers in the short term, but in the long run users will jump off the treadmill. The next time Apple and Microsoft update an operating system, they should make it count.

 

The Source

[mona]

4 hours ago, steven36 said:

The fact is, just because updates are available for a given piece of technology does not mean that they are required or even that they will improve anything. The updates may, in fact, reduce functionality or introduce problems where there were none before. This rule applies to everything from the 99-cent app on your phone to the OS on a $250,000 storage array. Updating for the sake of keeping current generally causes more problems than it could ever solve. It’s downright unhealthy.

 

Exactly !

Personally, decided to stop that "update nonsense" some time ago already, when I realized I'd been spending too much time visiting nSane and searching for the newest updates every day. Silently it became a kind of daily routine, eating a lot of my precious time and giving nothing really positive in return.

Now I take it easy - I don't need to rush and install each and every new IDM or Skype update on the day it was released. Instead I check for updates (of non security sensitive progs) roughly once a month. General usability hasn't worsened, but I gained more time for OFFLINE activities.   

 

[Holmes]

The fact is because code works in the way that it does bugs and vulnerabilities happen and I personally dont mind updating software and keeping programs and my operating system updated that allows me to update everything keep it updated and not have to worry about zero days as much fifty percent of something is better then one hundred percent of nothing.  I mean dont get me wrong too each is own I have many computers to maintain not just mine and cant talk some users into not shutting down updates if that were the best case scenario and I dont think it is (I respectfully agree to disagree).  You would be SOL if you didnt use a firewall browsers extensions to secure your browser and security programs to better secure your internet browsing experience.  If I reformatted and didnt install a antivirus or malwarebytes anti-exploit premium and used a outdated flash and java you would get hit by malvertising and drive-by-downloads using exploit kits that use a specific vulnerability that you wouldnt have if your software was updated to begin with.  I always keep windows updates on and with the use of common sense and updated flash and java and my security programs havent got infected in a long time (knock on wood) and I have helped friends and friends of friends who looked at a porn site and went and tried to get infected and didnt because I keep everything updated its best to use safe internet practices. 

 

I do agree it takes alot of time to keep software updated and I dont know how many times I have been on steam valve releases a update and it screws up the installation of steam or a bug happened and they had to release it again thats frustrating as hell I completely agree I dont think the foolproof solution is to stop updating software as that can easily backfire on you one day.  For those that wish to not update too each is own and you can do what you want I am not going to try to talk you out of it or try to stop you.  With that said I did like and prefer old patch tuesday and think they should release updates in windows I wish they would stop with always releasing cumulative updates.

[straycat19]

I know most of you are too young to remember the way software use to be distributed and updated in the late 80s and early 90s.  Back then when you bought a program it just worked.  If it didn't you called the developer and talked to someone who personally worked there, for shareware it was the actual programmer, and they fixed the problem.  No idiot reading from a guide at a call center located halfway around the world.  If the program had an update you received a new floppy disk in the mail, it was sent automatically to all the users.  Some larger organizations had Bulletin Boards (BBS) that you could dial into and get updates.  But they were few and far in between.  The software worked and there were no problems.  Now everybody wants to offer patches to 'FIX' problems and the fact is most people aren't even having the problem the patch is for but it is forced on them anyway.  I currently have no OS or software with any type of problem and I have not installed one fix, patch, or update since June of 2015.  No program has crashed, no malware has infected my system, no one has hacked into my system, nor has anything adverse been run on my system.  That is in stark contrast to all the posts I see on the internet from people wanting help after installing an update or patch that hosed their system.  The world is full of idiots who drink the kool-aid and then complain about the results.

 

I have seen Windows 7 SP1 installs that have never installed an update or patch and have been running flawlessly since the system was setup in 2011.  So just how 'critical' or 'essential' have the updates been in the last 5 years? 

[steven36]

5 hours ago, mona said:

 

Exactly !

Personally, decided to stop that "update nonsense" some time ago already, when I realized I'd been spending too much time visiting nSane and searching for the newest updates every day. Silently it became a kind of daily routine, eating a lot of my precious time and giving nothing really positive in return.

Now I take it easy - I don't need to rush and install each and every new IDM or Skype update on the day it was released. Instead I check for updates (of non security sensitive progs) roughly once a month. General usability hasn't worsened, but I gained more time for OFFLINE activities.   

 

That's the thing about alot of software it can update  a million times with nothing about security in the changelog . Major  updates are know to cause regression . Some times updateing can cause things to stop working  even so how is that a benefit?  Most of the time i have a backup plain  in-case things  dont work out though i have  more patience than some about these things than others.

 

1 hour ago, straycat19 said:

I have seen Windows 7 SP1 installs that have never installed an update or patch and have been running flawlessly since the system was setup in 2011.  So just how 'critical' or 'essential' have the updates been in the last 5 years? 

Back tell just a few months ago you claimed you turned you're updates off in June 2015 then you're story done a 180  to  having them off for 5 years?   That's like 4 year and some months difference, so you're not being honest somewhere  . So i dont know what to believe you did ? I've  been on the net since 2001 and always done all windows updates  with very little problems  but i never jumped to a new o/s  tell like it got it's 1st service release .

 

Before Windows 10,  I never have tested a windows O/S  that was  still such a new pup only reason i tested it was because it was free.  Microsoft exposed everyone too that bloody not finished O/S by giving it away free . Before Windows 10  most that jumped right into a new windows O/S were some pirates and some of the Microsoft fan club . Normal people dont go out there way to update to do such ..

 

Tell Microsoft started making get Windows 10 updates,  I never had a reason not to take certain updates. And I remember back before XP sp2  people could catch a virus in a few minutes tell they done updates to fix it .  Now  hackers  are attacking windows shell in Pwn2Own 2016 Windows was the most hacked  software even more than flash you should be worried about it more anything else on the market. 

 

You can learn a lot  about  a person from what they say they install and dont install ,A self proclaimed IT  that's not patched in 5 years?   If nothing has happened to you yet, its sheer luck is all, because  you're  pushing you're luck with all those vulnerabilities  . But then again you may  just be posting to get user feed back because a few months ago you said you turned them off in June 2015 .. Are you trolling us ?  I rather be on the safe side and patch known vulnerabilities. Microsoft  is slow at patching them anyway . Too many updates is one thing,  like windows 10 major upgrades  and Mac OSX  gets but  someone who claims to be a IT not doing there security updates for the most vulnerable  software on the market  once a month don't sound good . If you was to put that  on a  resume no were would hire you as a IT  . So you dont sound very ITsh to me.