Rainmeter didn't work with Window 10 2004

[Yincognito]

Well, just to take the contrary viewpoint, I personally update ALL software as soon as there is a release version of it available. I never, ever allow any software to get more than a week or two out of date. I have done this for many years, and have found that in the long-haul, over time, the benefits of staying current far outweigh the very occasional "oops" that some piece of software has with a release.

Of course I allow Windows Update to do its job. To not do so is very akin to being an anti-vaxxer, in every way. Not only is it a really dumb idea for you, but it harms the entire computing ecosystem to allow old, compromised software to stay out there.

I also run this about once a month: https://kcsoftwares.com/?sumo and update absolutely everything that it flags as out of date.

I must say that I do perform a "bare metal" reinstall of Windows probably once a year or so, just to keep the "crud" that accumulates over time from gumming things up.

To each his own, but I personally have no sympathy with the FUD surrounding Windows versions.

I knew you'd take the contrary viewpoint, especially on this - but then, no worries, that only adds some spice to the conversation.

I for one, can't even begin to describe the amount of contempt I have for the FUD surrounding updates, in general, and security updates in particular (not from users like you and me, by the way, but from the various companies' marketing divisions). Now to be clear, I'm not saying one shouldn't update once in a while (preferably through a bare metal install when possible), just that the whole hysteria about "you have to do this often / regularly or else blah blah", "system is compromised just because blah blah old" is vastly overhyped. The reasons are simple:

• every software is compromised right from the start (it doesn't need to get "old" for that), otherwise there would be no subsequent "updates" claiming to fix X or Y "vulnerability" that was "discovered" at some point during its lifecycle in basically every case and every version possible, while at the same time introducing another set of "vulnerabilities" with the said update

• I never, ever, had a security problem on my "old" and "compromised" systems over time (bar a total infection and erase of the HDD two weeks after getting my first computer a long time ago, when I didn't have a security solution installed - lesson learnt), and my computer is probably living one of the most dangerous lives from those on this forum, in terms of visited locations on the Web, things attempted (e.g. in the past I used to test either malware or defenses against malware), and so on

• if a hacker / malware attacker / etc. wants to compromise your system, he will, no matter how updated you are, assuming, of course, that he knows what he's doing

• most companies have an interest in making "imperfect" software, or otherwise providing all kinds of "updates", and the interest ranges from money / subscriptions to introducing new "features" (that one may or may not want), and even if they are fair enough not to do it actively, they surely don't mind the outcome, as this is one of the things that make people interested or aware of their products in the first place

• even if one is fully updated, there are other more or less significant concerns over things like privacy, telemetry, advertising and selling data to third parties (willingly or unwillingly, see Yahoo)... that curiously don't seem be fully addressed in those "critical" updates, I wonder why...

• the whole fuss of new over old just because "fashion" doesn't impress me, to put it mildly; I prefer the fuss of quality and competence over bugs and incompetence, but then, that's just me, as nowadays such ideas are mostly considered obsolete and everybody likes to "go with the flow", so to speak

That being said, I do clean install everything from time to time, I do use a reliable and comprehensive security solution rapidly updated every day, I do have multiple layers of tightly "locked" protection from the browser to the OS and beyond, I do set all the things in the used software properly (including disabling all the garbage that comes with certain software), I do monitor things that happen on my system (Rainmeter being a part of this one, by the way), I do use a reasonable amount of awareness and attention when navigating online, I did use both a backup and an instant recovery / snapshot approach for a long time in the past, I do use a sandbox / VM approach when really needed, I do have some experience in debugging / identifying / preventing certain things to happen, so maybe my approach isn't exactly suited for a regular system usage, and updates help more in those scenarios, I don't know. What I can say is that the vast majority of the systems I dealt with over time were awefully maintained and even though some were regularly updated, their users had this funny reaction of wondering and being upset over the unwanted things happening on their computers... while making everything possible to otherwise directly or indirectly provoke that.