Tom’s Tech Tip: Operating System Upgrade and Update Conundrums for Certified Legal Nurse Consultants

One thing for sure about operating systems (OS) is that they will be upgraded. Another thing we know for sure is that the operating system upgrade will be buggy – at least at first. I know that all Certified Legal Nurse Consultants depend upon LegalNurse.com to keep ourselves on the front-lines of legal nurse consulting technology and, we do the best we can do. But when it comes to operating system upgrades, I must say, in my experience, it’s usually “downloader beware.”

But, instead of taking that path and choosing to set an example of selfless behavior, I took it upon myself to download and install version 9.0 of the iOS for Vickie’s and my iPhones^® and iPads^® without reservations (actually without researching it first). The reservations (and repercussions) came after I tried using it, experienced the bugs and the hours debugging the bugs. Today, I still have reservations and there are more bugs than a fleabag South Carolina motel. iOS 9.1, 9.+ and 9.+++ (and I quickly installed every one) came hoping they’d fix the issues but instead added extra emoji’s (ice skates, sleds and trolleys) but with a lot of baggage – some of which started with earlier iOS 8. My unopened email counts are off (one account shows 63 unread email when there are actually a total of 3 in the inbox). Apps load or don’t load, sometimes they just fail and go blank. The more email accounts you have on your iPhone the more problems occur – and how many Certified Legal Nurse Consultants have just one email account on their iPhone? Not many.

Since upgrading, almost every time I open my iPhone 6, it asks me to update my iCloud^® password (usually a malware indication), a request I ignore but cannot eliminate. The calendar acts funny, my contacts all run together and the iOS constantly changes my settings for apps I want to give location and Wi-Fi access to (especially “News”). While overall it’s an improvement, depending upon your definition of improvement, when my CLNC^® amigos ask me if they should upgrade their iOS, I say, “If you’re on an iPhone 6, then for security, yes. For everything else, no.”

If you’re on a version of the iPhone older than the 6 – don’t upgrade, instead wait a little bit longer and read about the issues others are having. After understanding the issues, decide if the upgrade is for you. Sometimes, if it isn’t broke, don’t try and fix it until you buy a new iPhone.

Microsoft^® Windows users, though, are in an entirely different situation. Windows practically force feeds you downloads and updates. Especially Windows 10. In terms of upgrades, if you’re on Windows 7 or 8 it’s probably best to wait until you buy a new computer instead of upgrading your existing box to Win10. If you’re already on Win10 – go for the update, that is, Service Pack (which is really an entirely new OS). Windows is changing from a software or OS to a service. While that’s fine, there will be issues – it’s better to be safe. You all depend on your computers for your legal nurse consulting businesses, so keep them safe – just remember to set a restore point prior to any minor updating (it won’t help on a major OS upgrade) in case you need to roll-back. Trust me on that one.

Keep on Techin’,

Tom

P.S. Comment and tell me what you think about iOS and OS upgrades – go ahead, don’t hold back.