I like to keep all the software on my computers up-to-date and only rarely have I ever had any reason to regret it. When the chance came to put Windows 10 on all the computers in the house, I made it a point to do it right away. Four out of five of the machines upgraded automatically, but one of them required me to do it manually. That was the extent of the difficulty I face in making the transition: the upgrades went smoothly in most respects and my computers have all been stable and trouble free since.
The only difficulty I had was relatively minor, related to networking. Windows 10 seems to handle networking differently than the previous versions. It’s emphasis on security cut the ease of communication between my computers and getting them to share files as easily as they had done before the upgrade took some effort on my part—and there was a bit of a learning curve involved, too. Still, I ultimately triumphed.
I think part of the problem a lot of people have with upgrading their software relates to the discomfort all of us face with change of any sort, even good change. I am a creature of habit as much as the next person and I like being able to just keep on doing things the way I always have done them. However, I recognize that change is necessary and a part of life. As comfortable as I used to be with using WordStar and DOS, I really am thankful that I no longer need all those complex commands. I used to use a typewriter, too, and I knew how to use carbon paper, and I learned how to use that plastic lined sheet that I put behind the paper so I could figure out where to stop the body of the text and star putting in the footnotes. I really don’t miss using any of those old skills.
Updating software, learning how Windows 10 and Office 16 works as opposed to the previous version—yeah, it took me some time. But I’d rather keep up to date than not. If you don’t fight the change, you’ll find you can adapt a lot quicker and get back to work.