There has been news recently about automatic updates coming to Internet Explorer. I haven't paid a lot of attention for the simple reason that I almost never use IE. Since most every site I use these days support Firefox and Chrome, including many Microsoft ones, I use those browsers. While IE might have improved, I'm not sure that's a reason for me to switch from the Firefox browser that I am very comfortable with.
On one hand, I think this is a great idea for the browsers. It has the potential to not only ensure better security on the desktop, but potentially also making life easier for developers. If the browsers automatically update to the latest code, that means that the majority, or maybe all, of your clients will be running the same browser. That would greatly simplify the testing and coding requirements for developers.
It might also greatly enhance the application experience for clients since every IE9, or Firefox 4, or Chrome 15 browser will be the same. I don't know that I would want this for SQL Server, but for the browser, and potentially other software, I think it's great.
However silent updates could also break applications. That could result in a mad scramble when an update occurs by software developers that race to fix problems. I've always preferred to apply updates regularly, but not too aggressively. I like to be able to test changes before I deploy them to all my clients. This doesn't give me that flexibility, but there is one benefit that I do like: my clients won't have excuses for delaying updates.
Now when I get an update on a developer's machine, and they perform a build, I can be confident that the client will have installed the same updates.
Steve Jones
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