Not so very long ago, one major inconvenience we all dealt with in running Windows 3.x systems was downloading new drivers, patches, and bug-fixes. If you were really gung-ho about your system---I know I sure was---you made frequent online pilgrimages to your hardware vendors' BBS for the download du jour. The more advanced the peripheral (especially cutting-edge video or sound cards), the more frequent were your return visits. Eventually, in your quest to have a stable, fast, system you'd end up installing patches on top of patches on top of patches.
It was one of the ugliest parts of Windows 3.x, and it was something that Windows 95 was supposed to fix.
A funny thing has happened. Yes, Windows 95 did exactly what it was supposed to do for peripherals. Win95's "miniport" technology brought many core driver functions into the OS itself, and shifted some of the burden of writing drivers away from hardware vendors and to Microsoft. This was supposed to reduce the need for frequent driver patches and updates.
But the Law of Unexpected Consequences kicked in, and Win95 itself has become patch-happy---a crazy-quilt OS with literally dozens of bug-fixes, corrections, upgrades, add-ons, extensions and enhancements available. Here's what I mean:
Win95 was relatively stable and bug-free when it shipped, but it wasn't perfect. A few months later, Microsoft released a free-for-the-download "Service Pack 1" (available on this CD-ROM) to address the worst of the bugs. The Service Pack incorporates nine separate patches for:
But the Service Pack didn't fix all the bugs or shortcomings in Win95---and it even introduced a few new bugs of its own, requiring a new cycle of bug-fixes and updates. You access these newer patches at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/software/updates.htm. As of this writing, you can download 10 additional patches and updates:
But wait, there's more. Over at http://www.microsoft.com/kb/softlib/windows95.htm, you'll also find page after page after page of new printer drivers, display drivers, network drivers, modem drivers, audio drivers, input device drivers, storage drivers, and numerous other files, drivers, and utilities. There are hundreds of files there.
And I haven't even mentioned the hundreds of additional files in the Microsoft Office fixes and updates area, the huge developers' area, the site builder's area, the games area (relevant here because some of the games update your video and sound drivers for DirectX support, for example), the incredibly popular Internet download area, and beta downloads like Nashville/IE4 and Detroit---sweeping updates to the shell and OS itself.
Whew.
I'm sure you see the problem. Yes, it's great that Microsoft has assembled so much stuff in one place, and that it's there for free. But who has time to wade through all this, looking for the relevant files or patches to correct problems in the base OS, to add new features, and to bug-fix the bug-fixes? Even Microsoft itself is having trouble keeping up: for example, the Service Pack is confusingly posted in two different ways on the site, with two different front-ends and two different publication dates (12/31/95 and 2/13/96).
If you do manage to stay fully up to date, your copy of Win95 could end up being very, very different from your neighbor's. This can drive system administrators and front-line technicians nuts because it makes diagnosing problems and supporting users much more difficult. It's no better for those of us who maintain our own systems. When we need to reinstall the OS, we have to reinstall the core files and then all the upgrades in the correct order, rebuilding the whole patchwork OS from bottom to top, to get back to where we were.
The basic idea of componentized software is good: it's a benefit to be able just to update a broken piece of an application or OS instead of reloading the whole thing. But this has gotten out of hand. In my case, I currently have an "upgrades" directory where I just store all the patches and upgrades I've downloaded so I can get at them quickly when I need them: it now contains just over 38 megabytes of files. What a pain in the patch.
There are several products that try to help by taking inventory your system, noting the versions of all the software you're using, and then periodically dialing into a central database to see if newer versions have become available. Some even can auto-download and install the newer drivers. Along the same lines, the "active desktop" in Nashville/IE4.0 (see http//:www/winmag.com/flanga/ie4.htm) could do something similar, giving you a system that can update itself. In a way, downloadable ActiveX controls are doing just this kind of stealth upgrade today, although not yet with core OS components.
This auto-update approach may mesh with a long-rumored Microsoft plan to move its software to a subscription model: you buy software once, but then pay a maintenance fee each year and get continually-updated patches as they become available. It'd great for Microsoft. Think of the millions they'd save in packaging, printing, duplicating and shipping of disks, CDs and manuals.
And it sounds convenient for end-users, too, until you realize that you may not need or want every new software update or driver that comes along. For example, as hardware ages, there's usually a point at which you want to freeze the drivers and not install later versions. Or, you may have hardware that identifies itself imprecisely---like the infamous stripped-down versions of name-brand video cards some clone vendors are using. These cards appear to be the same as the full retail versions, but cannot use the same drivers. Or, you may have a dual-boot setup where you specifically want to keep an older, non-upgraded version of the OS around for compatibility or other reasons. In these and many other cases, installing the newest drivers can leave you with a broken system and no clue what's wrong---especially if the system underwent a stealth upgrade you don't know about.
I suppose software agents and install programs eventually can be made smart enough to know when to upgrade and when not to, but I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for that day.
Piecemeal releases of
software, wide public betas of new programs, and the proliferation
of downloadable bug-fixes and patches are fundamentally changing
the way we buy, install, and maintain software. Dribbleware already
is the rule at Apple, where "Copland" (the next major
version of the Mac OS) is going to be delivered as a series of
separate upgrades and patches, released over a year or more. Will
Win95 be next? Do you want it to be? Dribbleware isn't going away:
In fact, it's taking over. Are you as alarmed as I am? Drop me
a note at flanga@cmp.com.