You don't like error messages mentioning incompatibility? You've changed nothing, and yesterday everything was working fine? Now, somebody somewhere did something, and life as you knew it (maybe accepted it, possibly enjoyed it, perhaps even loved it) is over. The screen looks different. The usual things you learned to do (perhaps painfully and slowly, but you figured it out) now leave you stranded, lost, confused and you don't have time to dink around. You may have a computer that tells you that it wants to upgrade some software, but wants your permission. It offers you a list of software upgrades, most of which you may not know whether you use or not, most of which you may not understand. Will upgrading wreck what you have finally figured out? OR will it save you from some disaster that you haven't had yet? OR will it do nothing and it wouldn't matter whether you made the upgrade or not OR none of the above OR all of the above!!

CNET.com has a free "tech tracker" which will examine the software on your computer and compare it to the latest versions of the manufacturer's software, giving you a list of what you have that is out of date. Much of what I have is out of date. But it works. I should systematically update my stuff. Some of the updates are free. Some require money. All take time. All take time to learn the enhancements, changes, possible new appearance. Some require that the files you have previously created using the earlier version of the software need to be "upgraded" to a new file structure. Sometimes a new operating system (say, Windows 7 or Snow Leopard for the Mac) won't work on your "old" computer, so you may have to buy a new computer OR not upgrade. You might say "no problem. Forget the new computer!" But then sometime later, the company whose software you have come to depend on, sends an announcement saying they "no longer support" the software you have. You then are running on thin ice. Sure, everything still works. But if anything happens, you may not recover your work. Or recover it quickly. Or recover it for free.

If you don't upgrade, you are playing roulette. If you do upgrade, you are playing roulette and (often) spending money. Either way, you are taking risks. There is no free lunch. In for a penny, in for a pound. Digital information (its creation, storage, movement) may weigh nothing, but it takes a whole lot of care. Think of it as your permanent high-maintenance sibling, parent, boss, child, friend. You're in this for the long haul.

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blog: joebayu.blogspot.com

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