Do You "Patch When Broke" or "Patch When Told"?
Tuesday November 18, 2008
Nearly every software developer releases regular updates to their programs to help fix errors that we the guinea pigs users find after installing and using the program. Hardware developers release regular updates too in the form of updated drivers.
Security patches and virus definition updates aside, many of these patches correct very specific, sometimes very obscure, issues. I recently saw a patch for a game that only affected users on a specific motherboard model with a specific version of firmware on the onboard graphics chip and only in one small part of the game.
Other patches might enable new features or abilities. DirectX updates and video card driver updates are well known for updating frequently for this reason.
So, do you upgrade only when the update fixes/enables a certain thing you're looking for? Or are you one of those users that absolutely must show that highest version number at all times (and at all costs)?
What is a Patch?
What is a Service Pack?
Security patches and virus definition updates aside, many of these patches correct very specific, sometimes very obscure, issues. I recently saw a patch for a game that only affected users on a specific motherboard model with a specific version of firmware on the onboard graphics chip and only in one small part of the game.
Other patches might enable new features or abilities. DirectX updates and video card driver updates are well known for updating frequently for this reason.
So, do you upgrade only when the update fixes/enables a certain thing you're looking for? Or are you one of those users that absolutely must show that highest version number at all times (and at all costs)?
What is a Patch?
What is a Service Pack?
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