I work for Redgate Software, and over the last few years, we release software often. Like some of you, I'm slightly annoyed at the pace at times. I think almost every time I restart SSMS, which really is about once a week, I find an update message for one of our tools. Often I find the interruption distracting and I delay updates often.

I see the same thing in VS Code, ADS, Chrome, Firefox, etc. I get update notices, and I delay or accept them, usually the latter after the former. My phone updates many apps automatically, mostly because I don't care enough, the updates have proven stable the vast majority of the time, and I don't want to make decisions. I've also had the issue of an update being required as I'm trying to do something, like pay for goods or bring up a reservation during travel.

Recently I was on a Zoom meeting with a colleague and I saw they had blurred their background. I've done this in Teams, and I wanted to do it in Zoom. I have a window behind me, and my wife, animals, etc. sometimes interrupt lightly, so I'd like to not distract from the meeting. I searched online, and saw people say there were filters to do this, but I couldn't find it in Zoom.

Then I saw this post, which reminded me to update my system, including Zoom. I needed 5.5+, and when I looked, I had 5.4. Easy fix, but I also looked around Zoom, and I didn't see a check for updates, though it's under the profile. I missed it, and apparently, had missed notifications for updates. I don't often log in, so this is probably me.

However it struck me as interesting is that I've become used to software getting updated automatically. I expect most websites to do this, but also many applications. I don't want drastic change, but I do expect most of my client apps to manage themselves. I don't know I'd want SQL Server to upgrade, but I do think I'd want to have CUs applied. Dealing with those is a pain, even when I only keep 3 local instances for testing.

The thing I've somewhat forgotten is the need to check for updates. Most of the software I use lets me know an update is around, and I can choose to install, delay, or skip. I like that model, and I've gotten used to it, which is a huge change from the experience for most of my career. Moving from actively worrying about updates to passively accepting or delaying them. I suspect this is a trend for the future, for many of as both developers and customers.