<s>
Upgrading	B-General_Concept
is	O
the	O
process	O
of	O
replacing	O
a	O
product	O
with	O
a	O
newer	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
same	O
product	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
computing	O
and	O
consumer	O
electronics	O
an	O
upgrade	B-General_Concept
is	O
generally	O
a	O
replacement	O
of	O
hardware	B-Architecture
,	O
software	O
or	O
firmware	B-Application
with	O
a	O
newer	O
or	O
better	O
version	O
,	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
bring	O
the	O
system	O
up	O
to	O
date	O
or	O
to	O
improve	O
its	O
characteristics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Examples	O
of	O
common	O
hardware	B-Architecture
upgrades	B-General_Concept
include	O
installing	O
additional	O
memory	O
(	O
RAM	B-Architecture
)	O
,	O
adding	O
larger	O
hard	B-Device
disks	I-Device
,	O
replacing	O
microprocessor	O
cards	O
or	O
graphics	B-Device
cards	I-Device
,	O
and	O
installing	O
new	O
versions	O
of	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
other	O
upgrades	B-General_Concept
are	O
possible	O
as	O
well	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Common	O
software	B-General_Concept
upgrades	I-General_Concept
include	O
changing	O
the	O
version	O
of	O
an	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
,	O
of	O
an	O
office	O
suite	O
,	O
of	O
an	O
anti-virus	O
program	O
,	O
or	O
of	O
various	O
other	O
tools	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Common	O
firmware	B-General_Concept
upgrades	I-General_Concept
include	O
the	O
updating	O
of	O
the	B-Device
iPod	I-Device
control	O
menus	O
,	O
the	B-Operating_System
Xbox	I-Operating_System
360	I-Operating_System
dashboard	O
,	O
or	O
the	O
non-volatile	O
flash	O
memory	O
that	O
contains	O
the	O
embedded	B-Operating_System
operating	I-Operating_System
system	I-Operating_System
for	O
a	O
consumer	O
electronics	O
device	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
can	O
often	O
download	O
software	O
and	O
firmware	B-General_Concept
upgrades	I-General_Concept
from	O
the	O
Internet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
software	O
or	O
firmware	B-General_Concept
upgrade	I-General_Concept
can	O
be	O
major	O
or	O
minor	O
and	O
the	O
release	O
version	O
code-number	O
increases	O
accordingly	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
major	O
upgrade	B-General_Concept
will	O
change	O
the	O
version	O
number	O
,	O
whereas	O
a	O
minor	O
update	O
will	O
often	O
append	O
a	O
"	O
.01	O
"	O
,	O
"	O
.02	O
"	O
,	O
"	O
.03	O
"	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
"	O
version	O
10.03	O
"	O
might	O
designate	O
the	O
third	O
minor	O
upgrade	B-General_Concept
of	O
version	O
10	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
commercial	B-Application
software	I-Application
,	O
the	O
minor	O
upgrades	B-General_Concept
(	O
or	O
updates	O
)	O
are	O
generally	O
free	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
major	O
versions	O
must	O
be	O
purchased	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Companies	O
usually	O
make	O
software	B-General_Concept
upgrades	I-General_Concept
for	O
the	O
following	O
reasons	O
:	O
1	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
developers	O
usually	O
produce	O
upgrades	B-General_Concept
in	O
order	O
to	O
improve	O
a	O
product	O
,	O
there	O
are	O
risks	O
involved	O
—	O
including	O
the	O
possibility	O
that	O
the	O
upgrade	B-General_Concept
will	O
worsen	O
the	O
product	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Upgrades	B-General_Concept
of	O
hardware	B-Architecture
involve	O
a	O
risk	O
that	O
new	O
hardware	B-Architecture
will	O
not	O
be	O
compatible	O
with	O
other	O
pieces	O
of	O
hardware	B-Architecture
in	O
a	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
an	O
upgrade	B-General_Concept
of	O
RAM	B-Architecture
may	O
not	O
be	O
compatible	O
with	O
existing	O
RAM	B-Architecture
in	O
a	O
computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
hardware	B-Architecture
components	O
may	O
not	O
be	O
compatible	O
after	O
either	O
an	O
upgrade	B-General_Concept
or	O
downgrade	O
,	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
non-availability	O
of	O
compatible	O
drivers	B-Application
for	O
the	O
hardware	B-Architecture
with	O
a	O
specific	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Conversely	O
,	O
there	O
is	O
the	O
same	O
risk	O
of	O
non-compatibility	O
when	O
software	O
is	O
upgraded	B-General_Concept
or	O
downgraded	B-General_Concept
for	O
previously	O
functioning	O
hardware	B-Architecture
to	O
no	O
longer	O
function	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Upgrades	B-General_Concept
of	O
software	O
introduce	O
the	O
risk	O
that	O
the	O
new	O
version	O
(	O
or	O
patch	O
)	O
will	O
contain	O
a	O
bug	B-Error_Name
,	O
causing	O
the	O
program	O
to	O
malfunction	O
in	O
some	O
way	O
or	O
not	O
to	O
function	O
at	O
all	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
in	O
October	O
2005	O
,	O
a	O
glitch	O
in	O
a	O
software	B-General_Concept
upgrade	I-General_Concept
caused	O
trading	O
on	O
the	O
Tokyo	O
Stock	O
Exchange	O
to	O
shut	O
down	O
for	O
most	O
of	O
the	O
day	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
to	O
freeware	B-License
on	O
the	O
internet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Upgrades	B-General_Concept
can	O
also	O
worsen	O
a	O
product	O
subjectively	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
may	O
happen	O
for	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
reasons	O
,	O
including	O
the	O
user	O
being	O
already	O
accustomed	O
to	O
the	O
behavior	O
of	O
the	O
old	O
version	O
or	O
because	O
the	O
upgrade	B-General_Concept
removed	O
some	O
features	O
(	O
see	O
iPhone	O
jack	O
removal	O
controversy	O
or	O
OtherOS	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
further	O
risk	O
of	O
software	B-General_Concept
upgrades	I-General_Concept
is	O
that	O
they	O
can	O
brick	O
the	O
device	O
being	O
upgraded	B-General_Concept
,	O
such	O
as	O
if	O
power	O
fails	O
while	O
the	O
upgrade	B-General_Concept
is	O
in	O
the	O
middle	O
of	O
being	O
installed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
an	O
especially	O
big	O
concern	O
for	O
embedded	O
devices	O
,	O
in	O
which	O
upgrades	B-General_Concept
are	O
typically	O
all-or-nothing	O
(	O
the	O
upgrade	B-General_Concept
is	O
a	O
firmware	B-Application
or	O
filesystem	O
image	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
n't	O
usable	O
if	O
it	O
's	O
only	O
partially	O
written	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
which	O
have	O
limited	O
ability	O
to	O
recover	O
from	O
a	O
failed	O
upgrade	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Solutions	O
to	O
this	O
generally	O
involve	O
keeping	O
multiple	O
copies	O
of	O
firmware	B-Application
,	O
so	O
that	O
one	O
can	O
be	O
upgraded	B-General_Concept
while	O
the	O
other	O
remains	O
intact	O
as	O
a	O
backup	O
,	O
but	O
there	O
are	O
still	O
holes	O
which	O
can	O
cause	O
this	O
to	O
fail	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Tools	O
such	O
as	O
,	O
Sysup	O
,	O
SWUpdate	O
,	O
RAUC	O
,	O
and	O
OSTree	B-Application
provide	O
more	O
complete	O
solutions	O
that	O
implement	O
upgrades	B-General_Concept
in	O
a	O
safe	O
atomic	B-General_Concept
way	O
,	O
and	O
reduce	O
or	O
eliminate	O
the	O
need	O
to	O
customize	O
bootloaders	O
and	O
other	O
components	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Desktop	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
are	O
more	O
likely	O
to	O
use	O
something	O
like	O
snapshots	B-Application
or	O
restore	O
points	O
;	O
these	O
are	O
more	O
efficient	O
as	O
they	O
only	O
require	O
a	O
small	O
fraction	O
of	O
space	O
to	O
store	O
the	O
changes	O
from	O
the	O
old	O
system	O
to	O
the	O
new	O
one	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
lack	O
of	O
a	O
turnkey	O
implementation	O
for	O
embedded	O
systems	O
makes	O
this	O
impractical	O
.	O
</s>
