Quote:
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Originally Posted by Electrolyte
So you would rather have a high security risk from your browser for a few weeks, even months before they release a newer version than getting a patch in days to weeks?  |
I can't actually remember a time when Microsoft have been able to release a patch within
days.
Personally, I hate having patches released for a bug. Working in the software industry, I feel qualified to comment on this. Releasing a patch causes issues because it means that you have multiple branches of a release of your product out in the wild. It then becomes very difficult to maintain, because there are so many permutations. When we have to fix a bug, it can mean having to implement that one fix in many, many different branches of the same release. Having only one version of a release makes it very easy to know exactly what is out there, and just what needs to be fixed (and what is involved in terms of resources required to write, test, etc...)
Personally, I prefer having a new release issued, and failing that, having cumulative patches issued as opposed to individual fixes. The size of a cumulative patch need not necessarily be much smaller than an entire new release. This approach really does make life much easier in the long term.