08/02/2013
Why Software Updates are Important
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Many people find the process of applying software updates to be highly annoying and disruptive. This frustration is understandable, as a poorly managed computer network will often require users to approve updates and patches manually – and in such cases, the software updates are typically applied during the work day. That means that the updates are downloaded and applied while the computer is in use. Of course, an effective IT Support company will take care of all of this for you!
The process of applying software updates can consume a fair amount of bandwidth as well as slowing down the computer while the update is applied. To add to the user’s frustration, the computer often requires a reboot once the updates have been applied. Needless to say, applying software updates during the workday severely impacts on employee productivity and can cause a lot of frustration! So with this in mind, many users will question the importance of these irritating updates.
The primary reasons why software updates are released are as follows:
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Bug fixes – Not all code is perfect. Once a piece of software has been tested by the vendor in question, it is released into the public domain. Problems or bugs are then reported back to the vendors who rewrite bits of the application to resolve those problems. These are then released for download and are called bug fixes. They are important to ensure stable systems.
Security vulnerabilities – Security is a complex topic. In a nutshell, there are people out there who focus on finding security vulnerabilities in software. Vendors will rewrite pieces of code to close any security holes that are brought to their attention. It of paramount importance to ensure that security updates are applied to all software.
Product enhancements – Apart from fixing errors in code and addressing security vulnerabilities, some software updates also include enhancements which may add extra functionality or simply make a specific application run more efficiently.
Besides the afore-mentioned reasons to keep your computer up to date, another important reason is prevent what is known as Software rot. Software rot, (also known as software decay, code decay or software erosion) is a phenomenon whereby a piece of software that is left unchanged will eventually succumb to a loss of functionality or compatibility due to changes in the environment in which is resides.