Why update?
Thread poster: Lesley Clarke
Lesley Clarke
Lesley Clarke  Identity Verified
Mexico
Local time: 06:04
Spanish to English
Jun 21, 2009

I'm just curious about people's attitudes to software updates.

I have become very conservative in my old age and am still using Word 2003, Windows XP and wordfast 5.51b as I am quite happy with them and have not heard of any advantages of the newer versions whatsoever, let alone any that would justify the hassle of having to learn to deal with all the changes.

Do you update for the sake of updating, just assuming that it is an improvement?

Do you update b
... See more
I'm just curious about people's attitudes to software updates.

I have become very conservative in my old age and am still using Word 2003, Windows XP and wordfast 5.51b as I am quite happy with them and have not heard of any advantages of the newer versions whatsoever, let alone any that would justify the hassle of having to learn to deal with all the changes.

Do you update for the sake of updating, just assuming that it is an improvement?

Do you update because you have heard that the latest update will solve a problem you had with the previous version or has an added feature you want?
or
Are you a conservative like myself?

I would be very interested in people's opinions.
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Jack Doughty
Jack Doughty  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:04
Russian to English
+ ...
In memoriam
I'm a conservative too Jun 21, 2009

No experience of Wordfast, but on Word, I am even more conservative than you are - I use Word 2000 and Windows XP on my desktop computer.
I recently bought a laptop which came with Vista, and I have MS Office, including Word 2007, on it. I prefer Windows XP to Vista. I can see no reason why it has to be so drastically different from Windows XP. Its equivalent of Windows Explorer is harder to use, and I still can't make out how its search feature works. I have managed to make it look as
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No experience of Wordfast, but on Word, I am even more conservative than you are - I use Word 2000 and Windows XP on my desktop computer.
I recently bought a laptop which came with Vista, and I have MS Office, including Word 2007, on it. I prefer Windows XP to Vista. I can see no reason why it has to be so drastically different from Windows XP. Its equivalent of Windows Explorer is harder to use, and I still can't make out how its search feature works. I have managed to make it look as like Windows XP as possible, and I was able to use it when I was on an on-site job for three weeks recently, but I will stick to Windows XP as long as I can, even if MS stops providing updates or any other services in connection with it.
Word 2007 is also drastically different from Word 2000 and Word 2003. To make it easier to use, I have bought software called "Classic menus", which enables me to use the old-style menus to find things. So, again, I was able to use it during the on-site job. Fortunately you can download software free from Microsoft to enable earlier versions of Word to read and produce documents in Word 2007 format, though they need checking to make sure they have produced the format you want. So I'll stick to Word 2000 as long as I can too.
Previous developments of Windows and Words, have been evolution, but this time it is revolution.
It all seems quite unnecessary to me.
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CANIMAT
CANIMAT
Türkiye
Local time: 15:04
English to Turkish
To take the advantage of enhancements Jun 21, 2009

I will just give an example over a different kind of software. Maybe, you have heard of it, Dreamweaver, a well known web programming software. It has many updates for 3 years and the latest version is far more user friendly than the older versions. Also it has many new options and really improvements in codeless programming.
As in this example, there are many improvements in updated softwares, maybe an improved file recovery system or a better translation plug-in. Otherwise, it wouldn't
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I will just give an example over a different kind of software. Maybe, you have heard of it, Dreamweaver, a well known web programming software. It has many updates for 3 years and the latest version is far more user friendly than the older versions. Also it has many new options and really improvements in codeless programming.
As in this example, there are many improvements in updated softwares, maybe an improved file recovery system or a better translation plug-in. Otherwise, it wouldn't be sound for huge companies to invest so much money for delivering nothing new/unique/better to customers.
On the other hand, if what you have is enough for you, no one can force you to update I love softwares and I am very interested in developments , that may be the driving factor for my opinions.
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Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 13:04
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
I'm conservative too Jun 21, 2009

Lesley Clarke wrote:
Do you update for the sake of updating, just assuming that it is an improvement?


Update, yes. Upgrade, no. I only recently upgraded from Office 2000 to Office XP, and I only upgraded from Windows 2000 to Windows XP about two years ago when I had to use a client's CAT tool that wouldn't run on the old operating system. I do have Office 2007 on my computer but I don't use it unless I really, really have to.


 
Annett Hieber
Annett Hieber  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 13:04
English to German
+ ...
I'm afraid I'm conservative as well Jun 21, 2009

As I'm not a technician or IT-specialist, I'm a bit afraid of any new update that is suggested, because I don't know what will happen then for often some new version is incompatible with any other item on the PC.......However, when I bought a new notebook and bought my first Trados licence not so long ago, I had to have some new versions. I think it is not conservative to stay with what prooved to be good for you, but from time to time it is unavoidable to keep up with new technologies.
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As I'm not a technician or IT-specialist, I'm a bit afraid of any new update that is suggested, because I don't know what will happen then for often some new version is incompatible with any other item on the PC.......However, when I bought a new notebook and bought my first Trados licence not so long ago, I had to have some new versions. I think it is not conservative to stay with what prooved to be good for you, but from time to time it is unavoidable to keep up with new technologies.

My 2cents,
Annett
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Philippe Etienne
Philippe Etienne  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 13:04
Member
English to French
Also still on Office 2003/Windows XP Jun 21, 2009

Windows XP does everything I need from an OS and it's stable. No point in my switching to Windows Vista or 7 in the current state of things.
When Vista was released, its added features were not compelling to me, and a brand-new home-made computing mammoth would have been necessary: the alleged improvement was just not worth the investment and the learning curve.

Office 2003 also does everything I need from a desktop suite and it converts 2007 formats. I have yet to see an Offi
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Windows XP does everything I need from an OS and it's stable. No point in my switching to Windows Vista or 7 in the current state of things.
When Vista was released, its added features were not compelling to me, and a brand-new home-made computing mammoth would have been necessary: the alleged improvement was just not worth the investment and the learning curve.

Office 2003 also does everything I need from a desktop suite and it converts 2007 formats. I have yet to see an Office 2007 file that I cannot translate properly because it uses 2007 functionality.
I was put off from the onset with the "Ribbon" of version 2007, a new thing that would likely have annoyed me greatly before I got around it.
However, I liked the upgrade from Office 2000 to Office 2003 because it brought tangible benefits without messing up my way of working.

When I start losing business because of obsolete software, when support for my current versions is discontinued or when new applications don't perform well with old hardware and an old OS, then I will consider upgrading.

The same applies to CAT tools: as long as no customer requires a new version, I keep the one I know, provided that I don't see any killer features that I could leverage in my work.

In the meantime, I save trees, release less CO2 and contribute less to IT/electronics landfills.
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Williamson
Williamson  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:04
Flemish to English
+ ...
Look and feel Jun 21, 2009

Because VistaUltimate offers a back-up facility of the entire hd and has other interesting features and because the look and feel of Office2007 is totally different and more intuitive than Office2000 or 2003. If you combine Vista and 2007 you can change the interface in whatever language you want. Handy if you teach software-applications in different languages.


[Edited at 2009-06-21 18:09 GMT]


 
FarkasAndras
FarkasAndras  Identity Verified
Local time: 13:04
English to Hungarian
+ ...
Update some, leave some Jun 21, 2009

Lesley Clarke wrote:

I'm just curious about people's attitudes to software updates.

I have become very conservative in my old age and am still using Word 2003, Windows XP


I refuse to work with anything else. XP and Office 2003 works... if it ain't broke, don't fix it as they say. All the kinks have been worked out and documented, I'm not switching until I have to.
Security updates for windows are a must of course, and I usually update my software as well unless I have reason to be afraid that the update might break some functionality that I use and need.


 
Elke Fehling
Elke Fehling  Identity Verified
Local time: 13:04
Member (2005)
English to German
+ ...
Like everybody else Jun 21, 2009

But: My clients more or less forced me to update to a new Trados, I had a install a Word plugin etc... It's not always up to me.

 
RichardDeegan
RichardDeegan
Local time: 07:04
Spanish to English
why indeed? Jun 22, 2009

[quote]FarkasAndras wrote:

If it ain't broke, don't fix it as they say.
Had to bury my Espon 600 after nine years of faithful service, and still using Win 98 on my 2 main "work" PCs (Acrobat 3.2 and 6.0 respectively, both Office 2000, which I find much faster than 2003).
Within the last month I did migrate two PCs to XP (and Office 2003), in order to experiment with Wordfast and other TM-compatible software, and may migrate whole system soon.
Auto-updates are a no-no for me, especially MS Corrupdates. If there are truly necessary updates, I will find out about them through trusted friends, but I see no reason to give blind, unfettered access to control over my PCs to outside sources.
No printer or Acrobat updates either, as I am unaware of new letters added to the alphabet or other reasons to update.
WinAmp 4.0 and 5.0, WinMedia 7.1 and WinZip 8.0 give me all I need.
Oh yes, it was not by choice that I switched to the "new" ProZ page design.


 
Yasutomo Kanazawa
Yasutomo Kanazawa  Identity Verified
Japan
Local time: 21:04
Member (2005)
English to Japanese
+ ...
Count me in too for conservatism Jun 22, 2009

I feel updating seems to be endless, once you start doing it. Take, for example, the Windows system. There are few updates in one month, and I used to update them as told to do so, but at a certain point, I felt updating was useless, since I don't encounter any disadvantages from not doing so; on the otherhand, I experience disadvantages by updating because Windows is very vulnerable and not organized and something goes wrong. I use the last version of XP (desktop), with Word 2007 and Excel 2007... See more
I feel updating seems to be endless, once you start doing it. Take, for example, the Windows system. There are few updates in one month, and I used to update them as told to do so, but at a certain point, I felt updating was useless, since I don't encounter any disadvantages from not doing so; on the otherhand, I experience disadvantages by updating because Windows is very vulnerable and not organized and something goes wrong. I use the last version of XP (desktop), with Word 2007 and Excel 2007 installed, plus a laptop with Word 2003 and Excel 2003, and another XP with Word 2002 and Excel 2002 installed. And they all work fine, except that when I deliver projects using Word 2007, I save them as compatible for versions earlier than 2003, since the extension is different for 2007 and 2003 and am not sure whether the client has 2007 installed on their computers.

The latest update I made was from Trados 6.5 to 8.0, since the regulations for upgrade has changed. I think my next update would also be in Trados in two years time or so.
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Aniello Scognamiglio (X)
Aniello Scognamiglio (X)  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 13:04
English to German
+ ...
Security risks! Jun 22, 2009

I would always update the software when security risks are involved with not updating the software, e.g. browsers, antivirus programs, firewalls, operating systems etc.

 


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