I’ve been burned more than enough times by software “upgrades” that end up trashing hard drives, corrupting files, wrecking other programs or leaping from my computer and setting fire to my dog.
So here’s what I’d like programs to do – especially the ones with automated update-checking features:
- Check online with the mother ship regularly.
- Alert me when an update’s available.
- Ask me: “Do you want to…
…Upgrade now?
…Wait (1 day/2 days/1 week/other) before upgrading?
…See what other users have experienced when they upgraded?
And if I click “See what other users have experienced”, I want the software to do a search through Technorati, del.icio.us, the publisher’s own support boards, Macfixit and several sites I haven’t thought of yet, looking for a particular tag that you’ve cunningly provided – say, “20050602fooproupgrade” – and delivering me an RSS summary of what users are saying about the upgrade. Then I’d like the option again of upgrading or waiting a while.
What do you say?
