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Explaining The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Installation Or
Upgrade Of New Software
When
upgrading or installing software there are many advantages and
disadvantages.
Below
I am going to list some advantages and explain them in detail.
- New Features: By installing or upgrading software this will give your computer or program new features. The positive thing about having new features is that your computer will be more efficient and productive. You should also be able to process more data at high rates of speed.
- New GUI: Having a new GUI means the computer is going to be a lot easier to use so it is going to be therefore more user friendly. It will require fewer skills for people to use because it should be easy for users to explore and find ways around the system using a GUI interface.
- Easier to use: Many people benefit from the fact that new software can be used a lot easier. The new software may be laid out more clearly for the user which may enable them to see all the different things they can do a lot easier rather than having to go and actually research how to do it. There may also be a help file or tutorial video to help the users understand how to use the program more clearly.
- Fix Bugs: Businesses sometimes decide to upgrade their software because of the computer or program being simply too slow. Sometimes the reason why the software is reacting to slow is because it has bugs. By having bugs on your computer, this can affect the computers speed, download speed or simply erupt files. Businesses then benefit when they download new or upgrade software because when the software is being upgraded it is also fixing any bugs that the program may have, this simply means the computer is clear of any bugs, and therefore the company will then benefit from their computers being a lot faster and more efficient.
- Saves Storage: The user/business may also benefit with the fact of having more storage on their computer because they may have fewer things installed; For example; instead of having each document needing individual software, they may be able to purchase a program that will combine all the software onto one program. As well as this saving storage for the business/user it will also allow them to save money and save time because they are not needing to go and purchase a group of different programs because all the programs they need are combined into one and it will also save them time because rather than having to go and look for a different program for each individual task, the employees can do all the work on one program.
- Simply having the best: A positive thought about installing new software for your business is that new programs are being created all the time, so therefore all businesses would want to have the better version. For example when Vista came out it was the best, but now Windows 7 is out that can cope with more and new tasks, so it is now better than Vista. This will help a business work well, because the employees may be able to do more and make more changes on the new software, because it may be more suitable for their type of work.
- Security: The most important reason for installing software is for security. If there is a weak part in your current software, then there is a possibility that illegal hackers may steal your data or damage data and programs. Each new piece of software provides tools for security and the user should understand the protection and set it up automatically.
I
am now going to list some disadvantages and explain them in detail.
- New GUI: GUI’s often take up a much larger amount of hard disk space than other interfaces. New GUI’s use more processing power than other types of interfaces, so experienced programmers often find any GUI too slow, these people often find CLI interfaces preferable because they find them faster to use.
- Bugs: There is a huge possibility of a computer getting bugs when someone installs or upgrades new software, some of which could even stop the user from using older files. For example, an early iTunes update stopped users from uploading content from their iPods in order for Apple to have better control of the content purchased from their iTunes store. By the software having bugs, this will affect the business/user, because if the piece of software they have installed has bugs on it, this will then waste time and money because they will have to wait for a software patch to be sent out from the company they bought it off, or simply the software may not be able to be fixed so this would be a complete waste of money for a business if they bought a new software which is no longer any good to them.
- Cost money to retrain: For a business it may cost a lot of money for them to install or upgrade new software because their workers may need retrained on the software for example; some items may have been moved and some tasks might be done in a different way than on the old software.
- Maintenance: Maintaining software not only includes performing upgrades to the software package, but also maintaining and upgrading all the necessary equipment to use the software as new versions can require upgraded equipment. For example when having antivirus software on your computer, this will have to be updated regularly for the computer to benefit from the actual antivirus doing its correct job. By the business/user having to perform good maintenance on the software this will cost them money, for example; A business may actually have to hire a IT Technician to help do one job on maintaining software, and helping make sure no bugs erupt the company's system.
- Security: Security is the biggest concern when it comes to upgrading or installing new software. By accepting the terms and conditions before the installation begins you/company is essentially giving away private data and information, that might be sensitive and confidential.When clicking accept to the terms and conditions paragraph before installing or upgrading the software the business which you are installing the software of, therefore is clearly stating that if the software damages any files or erupts your computer that they do not hold any responsibilities.
- Causes Issues: Upgrading or installing software may cause issues with existing software, hardware or data files. An example is if you had an OS with windows and you changed to Linux there is a chance that some of the software, won’t work on the Linux program. This will have a huge impact on a business because they will then have to go spend more money and install another program which will accept or read previous work that the employees may have created and need access too.
