I've got something special today. A few months back, I approached AppSumo (known for putting together great software and service bundles) about creating a package that would benefit charity.

They agreed, so I got to work rounding up some of my favorite programs, games, Web services, and so on. And I'm happy to share the result: The Windows Holiday Bundle for Charity. It has a combined value of $220, but a sale price of just $19.

For every bundle sold, AppSumo will give a full 40 percent of the proceeds to Charity:Water, which provides clean drinking water to people in need around the world.

So, what does your $19 buy you (apart from the knowledge that you've helped a very worthy cause)? Here's a rundown:

PlayOn (6-month subscription) This seriously awesome service streams Hulu, CBS, TBS, Comedy Central, Nick, and loads of other sources to your game console, iPhone, iPad, Google TV box, and other devices. When your freebie subscription ends, you can extend it for another year for just $19.99 (not the usual $39.99 for new subscribers).

Plants Vs. Zombies Perhaps the most popular "casual" game of all time, PvZ challenges you to stop the zombie onslaught through...horticulture? It may sound weird, but trust me: the game delivers fiendishly addictive fun. This full version normally sells for $19.99--a buck more than the price of the entire bundle.

Dial2Do This incredibly handy (and potentially life-saving) service lets you send text messages, update your Facebook or Twitter status, add appointments to your calendar, and more--all just by speaking into your phone. In other words, you can get things done while driving, while still keeping your hands at 10 and 2 o'clock.

BatteryBar Pro The battery gauge Windows should have had, BatteryBar offers a ton of useful information about and control over your laptop's power settings. Trust me: you'll love this little utility.

WinX DVD Ripper Platinum This is my go-to tool when I want to turn a DVD into something I can watch on my iPhone, media center, or just about any other device.

"The Complete Android Guide" (E-book) Authored by Lifehacker's Kevin Purdy, this 282-page "missing manual" teaches you everything you need to know your Android-powered smartphone. It's a great resource for anyone who snatched up, say, that no-contract Samsung Intercept.

Other bundle goodies include the awesome tower-defense game Defense Grid: The Awakening, the inbox-organizing Outlook plug-in Boomerang, the award-winning Panda Cloud Antivirus Pro, and the Fort Knox-caliber firewall Emsisoft Online Armor.

Needless to say, there's nothing but great stuff here, all for a price that's just impossible to beat. The bundle will be available through the end of the month, but after that, it's gone! And it might actually sell out, as we have a limited number of licenses available.

It was really fun putting this together with my Cheapskate peeps in mind, and I really hope you'll consider supporting the very worthy charity we chose to go with it.

Bonus deal: Speaking of charity-helping goodies, check this out: You can download SoftMaker Office 2008 absolutely free between now and Dec. 31, and the developer will make a small donation to "charitable projects." Love it!

Originally posted at The Cheapskate

To recognize the software programs that have excelled on the Most Popular list this year, CNET Download.com has compiled the total download counts for the products in the Download.com catalog for 2010. We've ranked the top-10 biggest, for both Windows and Mac.

Software publishers who receive the Top 10 Download of 2010 distinction will have the privilege of displaying their accomplishments to the world with a special badge designed to commemorate the achievement. Look for the Top 10 Download of 2010 badge around the Web.

Mac users are certainly a growing breed, and this year's list shows what those users want in downloadable software: home music production, file conversion for iPhones and other mobile devices, video transfers from YouTube, and a simple video player that handles all formats. Read on to see which apps were the most popular Mac titles for 2010, and learn which honorable mention software just missed the list.

No. 10: All2MP3

Quick, reliable, and free are three adjectives most Download.com users love. The popularity of All2MP3 shows that Mac fans may like drag-and-drop MP3 conversion even more. A simple-as-pie graphical interface lets users drag files onto the All2MP3 interface and get instant MP3 conversions. Though it doesn't handle M4A files, it does convert the rest of the major file formats, and also provides some tweakable settings under the hood...if you can find them.

All2MP3 received 214,819 downloads in 2010, making it the 10th most popular Mac software on CNET Download.com.

No. 9: ManyCam Virtual Webcam

What fun is video chat without fake mustaches and party hats? In case your costume collection is stashed in the attic, ManyCam Virtual Webcam provides scads of digital dress-up opportunities, as well as background animations and text effects. You can also broadcast your Webcam simultaneously on MSN Messenger, Yahoo, Skype, AIM, PalTalk, and CamFrog. When used in conjunction with programs like iChat and Photobooth, you can access your ManyCam settings directly from those programs' effects lists.

ManyCam Virtual Webcam received 247,518 downloads in 2010, making it the ninth most popular Mac software on CNET Download.com.

No. 8: Mozilla Firefox

Apple's Safari is the default browser for Mac OS, but the open-source powerhouse Mozilla Firefox is the Web browser that Download.com users choose to put on their machines. Netscape begot the Mozilla suite; the Mozilla suite begot Firebird; and, in 2004, Firebird morphed into Mozilla Firefox, which has slowly but surely gained more users every year. The rise of competition means that Firefox is no longer fastest, but fantastic extensions and general reliability across all Web sites keep it on top of the list for Download.com Mac users.

Mozilla Firefox received 258,087 downloads in 2010, making it the eighth most popular Mac software on CNET Download.com.

No. 7: TeamViewer

This free screen-sharing program made big waves this year, vaulting up the Most Popular list for both Mac and Windows software. In fact, TeamViewer is the only application to make both Mac and Windows top-10 lists for 2010. Free and easy for even those who aren't computer-savvy to use, TeamViewer lets you quickly show or share your screen, as well as transfer files privately or set up a virtual private network (VPN). Secure and encrypted data eases privacy concerns, and the remote-desktop feature even lets you check your Mac at home while you're on the road.

TeamViewer received 277,716 downloads in 2010, making it the seventh most popular Mac software on CNET Download.com.

No. 6: RAR Expander

Mac OS can do a lot of things, but one thing it can't do by default is decompress RAR files. The RAR format is a proprietary system developed by engineer Eugene Roshal. It has gained fans through the years because of its high compression ratios, particularly for multimedia files like images and video. Though RAR archives can only be created with the WinRAR software, lots of products decompress RARs, and RAR Expander has leveraged its simple interface into a top-10 Mac download for 2010.

RAR Expander, received 343,251 downloads in 2010, making it the sixth most popular Mac software on CNET Download.com.

No. 5: StuffIt Expander

For Mac users who need more than simple RAR extraction, this longtime compression tool is the first pick on Download.com. The freeware app Stuffit Expander was forked from the longtime archiving tool Stuffit back in the early 1990s. Stuffit Expander only decompresses archives, but it can handle all sorts of them, including WinZip, WinRAR, 7-Zip, 7zX, iShrink, SimplyRAR, Rarify, Rucksack, iArchiver, BetterZip, and RarMachine. The 2011 versions of Stuffit Expander added a universal 32-bit/64-bit installer, e-mail notifications, and compatibility with the latest versions of Stuffit and Stuffit Deluxe.

StuffIt Expander received 353,042 downloads in 2010, making it the fifth most popular Mac software on CNET Download.com.

No. 4: YouTube Downloader+

Mac and Windows users might not agree on much, but both are certainly looking for an easy way to get videos from YouTube. Much like its similarly named counterpart on the Windows side, YouTube Downloader+ lets users transfer videos from the popular site to their local drives. Written in Java, the free utility lacks the polish and pizazz of most Mac software, but simplicity--paste in a YouTube URL and hit return to save a local FLV file--and name recognition keep it at the top of the heap.

YouTube Downloader+ received 409,362 downloads in 2010, making it the fourth most popular Mac software on CNET Download.com.

No. 3: Adobe Photoshop update

Despite some recent antagonism between Apple and Adobe, the two companies and their users have had a long relationship that isn't ending anytime soon. At the opposite end of the spectrum from YouTube Downloader+, Adobe Photoshop is a highly polished, full-featured image-editing application that has been generally considered best in its class for decades now. It also currently retails at $649. This update for the popular app keeps Mac users up-to-date with the latest changes from Adobe.

The Adobe Photoshop update received 423,964 downloads in 2010, making it the third most popular Mac software on CNET Download.com.

No. 2: VLC Media Player

An honorable mention on the Windows list, VLC Media Player makes a much bigger splash in Mac software, competing for the No. 1 spot in the Most Popular list for much of 2010. Highly portable, VLC also covers a wide range of video and audio formats, including MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, MP3, OGG, DVD, VCD, and a variety of streaming protocols. Recent versions even make it possible for users to record live video.

VLC Media Player received 591,698 downloads in 2010, making it the second most popular Mac software on CNET Download.com.

No. 1: Virtual DJ

Mac users have traditionally been known (stereotyped?) as "creative types," so perhaps it's no surprise this bedroom music-production software reigns as king of the Mac mountain for 2010. A spin-off from the original AtomixMP3 mixing software, Virtual DJ has been assisting new and veteran DJs since 2003. Its newbie-friendly BeatLock engine keeps tracks automatically in sync, and automated seamless loops allow for impressive live-performance support. Virtual vinyl controls even let users scratch as if on a real turntable.

Virtual DJ received 774,287 downloads in 2010, making it the most popular Mac software on CNET Download.com.

Honorable mentions: Adobe Reader; AVG LinkScanner; Call of Duty 4 update, CNET TechTracker; FLV Crunch; FrostWire; HotSpot Shield; Microsoft Office 2008; Skype; uTorrent.

Correction: A previous version of this post listed the number of downloads in 2010 for VLC Media Player as 52,648,408. The correct number of downloads for VLC Media Player for Mac is 591,698.

CNET Download.com served up more than a billion software downloads in 2010, and the 10 products listed below made a huge contribution to that delivery load. To recognize those software programs that have dominated the Most Popular list for this year, we've compiled the total download counts for the products in the Download.com catalog in the year 2010, and we've ranked the top-10 biggest, for both Windows and Mac.

One notable program not on the list deserves mention. The popular file-sharing program LimeWire has been a staple of the Most Popular list for several years, but the controversial software met its end in 2010. Amid legal pressures and a court injunction, the LimeWire service shut down October 26, apparently for good. Although LimeWire saw enough downloads to be considered a Top 10 Download of 2010, we have removed it from the list based on its end-of-life status.

Software publishers who receive the Top 10 Download of 2010 distinction will have the privilege of displaying their accomplishments to the world with a special badge designed to commemorate the achievement. Look for this badge around the Web.

From free security tools to innovative screen-sharing apps and Web video software, this year-end list of the most popular Windows software on our site packs a mighty collective punch. Learn more about the top-10 biggest downloads of the year and download them yourself, and find out at the bottom which honorable mentions barely missed the cut.

No. 10: Camfrog Video Chat

Launched in 2003, Camfrog Video Chat has pioneered a number of innovations in instant messaging over the past decade. Camfrog users can chat with text, audio, and/or video, and can directly share picture files of up to 100MB. Most distinctively, Camfrog lets users join thousands of public chat rooms to chat and interact with other people.

Camfrog Video Chat received 14,155,432 downloads in 2010, making it the 10th most popular Windows software on CNET Download.com.

No. 9: TeamViewer

This screen-sharing and file-transferring utility makes it easy for you to cede control of your screen to a helpful IT assistant anywhere in the world...or take over Uncle Bob's computer to clean it after he loads up 39 forms of adware. Logging in to TeamViewer gives you access codes and passwords that let you easily set up a shared connection for remote support, presentation, file transfer, or VPN. Completely free for personal use, the program vaulted up the Most Popular list in 2010 and may be headed for an even higher rank next year.

TeamViewer received 15,722,955 downloads in 2010, making it the ninth most popular Windows software on CNET Download.com.

No. 8: WinRAR

What's a RAR file, you ask? Well, it's a roshal archive file, of course. Originally developed in 1995, Eugene Roshal's compression software, WinRAR, has emerged from back channels in recent years to become the most popular archiving software on the site. The term "WinRAR" has even become Internet slang for "winner." The RAR file became popular with multimedia users for its better compression ratio for certain music and photo file types, and the shareware WinRAR application itself has evolved into full-featured archive software. Despite the explosion in popularity, WinRAR is still developed by Eugene Roshal. His brother Alexander runs the business side of Win.rar GMBH.

WinRAR received 19,431,244 downloads in 2010, making it the eighth most popular Windows software on CNET Download.com.

No. 7: Advanced SystemCare Free

Formerly known as Advanced WindowsCare, this suite of utilities from IObit offers scads of options for clearing out the detritus that can accumulate on Windows machines. Registry cleaning was the original focus of the app, but the program also removes other junk files and detects and removes spyware. A particularly helpful feature for some is Smart RAM, which lets users monitor and manage their RAM usage. The program also lets users scan for hijacked Windows settings, and the premium version adds scheduled scans to the mix.

Advanced SystemCare Free received 19,544,950 downloads in 2010, making it the seventh most popular Windows software on CNET Download.com.

No. 6: Ad-Aware Free Internet Security

Originally released in 1999, Lavasoft's Ad-Aware software has achieved an indelible presence on the Download.com site, immediately attracting users with its straightforward approach to detecting and removing adware. The flagship software was No. 1 on CNET Download.com's Most Popular list for a good while in the 2000s. The platform has expanded in recent years and now offers three main versions of its original protection--Ad-Aware Free Internet Security, Ad-Aware Pro Internet Security, and Ad-Aware Total Security--as well as variants for businesses and gamers.

Ad-Aware Free Internet Security received 20,375,957 downloads in 2010, making it the sixth most popular Windows software on CNET Download.com.

No. 5: Malwarebytes Anti-Malware

As the new kid on the security block, Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware has made a big splash in a short time. Released in January 2008, the free software has already become one of the "go-to" tools of savvy Windows users. It was designed to find malware and rogue software that other security programs often miss, and based on its growing user base and adoption as a backup security service, it seems to be very successful so far. Comprehensive definition files and speedy, accurate scans kept the program in the top 10 of the Most Popular list for most of the year.

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware received 25,799,006 downloads in 2010, making it the fifth most popular Windows software on CNET Download.com.

No. 4: YouTube Downloader

It may not look like much, but this niche application certainly does what it says on the tin. YouTube Downloader transfers video from the YouTube Web site to your local drive, then converts those videos into formats you can enjoy on your desktop, notebook, iPad, phone, or whatever fancy device you've got that plays video. The program stays in sync with changes to the YouTube service, updating quickly after major site updates. The simple and effective nature of the app has made it a recent mainstay on the Most Popular list.

YouTube Downloader received 30,068,100 downloads in 2010, making it the fourth most popular Windows software on CNET Download.com.

No. 3: Avira AntiVir Personal Free Antivirus

The first product from the big A-list top 3 security apps is Avira AntiVir Free Personal Antivirus. Created in Germany back in 1988, Avira's scheduling features led the way for user customization, and now the program allows users to tweak it even more to get a personal solution that works for them. The Premium version of Avira adds useful features such as e-mail scanning and a Webguard system for detecting malicious Web sites, but tons of users find that the free version suits them fine.

Avira AntiVir Free Personal Antivirus received 42,165,868 downloads in 2010, making it the third most popular Windows software on CNET Download.com.

No. 2: Avast Free Antivirus

The longtime music-player look might be gone, but the reliable protection of Avast antivirus software keeps going strong. Avast has been around for more than 20 years now, and it has been a big user favorite on Download.com for most of those years. Known for providing a strong level of security on Windows machines for free, Avast took on a whole new look in the beginning of 2010 with version 5, along with new community features that take advantage of the power of its huge user base. Through the year, Avast challenged AVG for the top spot on the Most Popular list.

Avast Free Antivirus received 52,648,408 downloads in 2010, making it the second most popular Windows software on CNET Download.com.

No. 1: AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition is the biggest program in the CNET Download.com universe right now, commanding well over a million downloads every week. It has become a ubiquitous presence on Windows machines around the world. AVG started out in Czechoslovakia as a small program from Grisoft named Anti-Virus Guard, and it has slowly and surely become one of the global leaders in the security industry. Although it has a bevy of worthy competitors in the security category, AVG reigned supreme in 2010 and shows little signs of slowing down.

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition received 84,317,112 downloads in 2010, making it the most popular Windows software on CNET Download.com for 2010.

Honorable mentions: CNET TechTracker; FreeZ Online TV; Glary Utilities, GOM Media Player; IrfanView; mIRC; PhotoScape; RealPlayer; Virtual DJ; VLC Media Player.

Driven by Google and like-minded software makers, a new era is dawning in which your software is constantly refreshed--often without any intervention on your part at all.

Depending on how you see things, that could be either a scary loss of control over your own computer or a boon to convenience and security. Either way, the practice is increasingly common.

I, for one, welcome it.

In the last week or so, I've manually updated Google's Chrome, Chrome Canary, and Picasa; Adobe Systems' Flash Player, Photoshop, Premiere, and AIR; Microsoft Windows 7 and Office 2008 for the Mac; Apple Aperture; Mozilla's Firefox and Thunderbird; Opera; and Evernote. Should this really be my job? Automatic updates can cause compatibility problems and yield control to corporations whose agendas may differ from your own, but used judiciously, I think it's an improvement.

In days of yore, software came on disks manufactured and shipped at some expense to customers. But the Internet Age has enabled not just digital distribution, but frequent distribution, and programmers are following suit with a more continual stream of smaller updates.

In short, a lot of software is becoming a constant work in progress rather than a finished product. With that change, along with the spread of computing technology to so many corners of our lives, the burden of maintaining it shifts to the software maker.

"[With] commodities like browsers or operating systems, non-technical consumers may well be best served by automatic updates," said Sebastian Holst, chief marketing officer of PreEmptive Solutions, a company that helps customers monitor and manage their software. "Many of the updates address emerging security threats rather than simply adding 'nice-to-have' feature extensions. Wouldn't it be great if we could automatically update the batteries in smoke detectors? If we have to work to motivate homeowners to take that simple step to protect themselves, how realistic is it to expect consumers to conscientiously update their software?"

Browsers lead the charge
Browsers are a prime example of the auto-update ethos. When Google released Chrome more than two years ago, the company quietly began a program in which the browser silently updates itself automatically. The software periodically checks a server to see if an update is available, downloads it when it finds one, and installs it for use when the browser or computer is restarted.

At the time, Google said, "For major version updates, when feature changes are involved, we'll explore options for providing users with more details about the changes," but so far it's maintained its silence, so to speak. Here's Google's rationale for silent, automatic updates today:

The primary reason is to ensure that as many users as possible are on the most current version of the software--and therefore as secure as possible--with minimal user effort...We've found that [waiting for user permission] only is desired in certain administration cases and in enterprise scenarios. For those cases we provide auto-update control via standard administration mechanisms.

Opera has followed suit. "We actually do it as a silent update now. You can change that to have more control, though. But the default is silent," spokesman Thomas Ford said.

And with the new version of Firefox due in 2011, Mozilla plans to make automatic updates easier. "With Firefox 4 we'll be adding the capability to apply updates in the background to reduce the delay on start-up, and (thankfully) changing things so that not every update will result in a new tab being opened," said Mike Beltzner, vice president of engineering for Firefox. "However we'll always provide a clear message about how the user's software has been updated, as well as a way to see what was changed."

Firefox programmers want the browser to improve faster, though, and to accommodate that is considering a more aggressive auto-update embrace.

"I think we also need to consider whether doing releases as frequently as once a quarter requires we default to mandatory (silent) updates across major versions," said Mozilla programmer Robert O'Callahan in a mailing list message this week.

"Yes, we need to consider it," Beltzner replied. However, he added, "I wouldn't equate mandatory with silent--there are ways of doing automatic updates that are not silent, and I find that silent ends up putting people on tilt a bit."

In the browser world, I'm inclined toward automatic updates. It raises compatibility issues with plug-ins, but given how central a role browsers play in today's Net attacks, I want holes plugged as soon as possible.

And in the long run, an auto-update ethos could help avoid today's bane of the Web, Internet Explorer 6, released in 2001 and now holding back efforts to build a more secure and powerful Web.

Cultural adjustment
Windows Update embodies the shift in software distribution and was a significant moment in my growing appreciation for automatic updates.

Microsoft has shifted to an incremental monthly "Patch Tuesday" update cycle that has partly replaced the earlier service pack approach of infrequent, massive overhauls. The motivation is simple: security. No longer do software makers get much of a grace period between discovery of a vulnerability and attackers exploiting it. Indeed, Microsoft sometimes releases "out-of-band" patches for urgent problems.

Major feature updates--such as the shift from Windows XP to Windows Vista to Windows 7--are still unusual. But plenty of real improvements such as better video drivers arrive regularly, too.

A few years ago I had an "Aha!" moment with Windows Update, which I'd set to automatically download updates but wait for my permission to install. I realized that I installed every security patch Microsoft sent. There have been some problems sometimes with those patches, but despite being fairly technical I'm not the kind of person who'll be able to detect them in some sort of testing.

I concluded that I'd probably be better off overall with Windows installing those updates and my checking later to see what was patched. I made the change, and I'm happy with it so far.

Sure, maybe some creepy government programmer is slipping a back door into my computer, but my guess is the updates are more likely to protect than compromise me and my data.

I've also become a part-time sysadmin for a mother-in-law who lives several time zones away (thank you, LogMeIn). She's not technically inclined at all, so it was a no-brainer for me to enable automatic Windows updates on her machine.

Her situation made me think more carefully about silent updates. I want to be notified of updates with easy-to-find release notes detailing what changed on my computers (hint hint, Adobe AIR team). But many people lack the expertise to understand that information. In my mother-in-law's case, pop-ups and dialog boxes and tabs alerting her to changes are confusing and worrying rather than helpful.

"It shouldn't be, but alas, it is the user's responsibility [to update software]. We're willing to tolerate this horrible user experience simply because PCs are so useful," said Paul Kocher, president of Cryptography Research. "As microprocessors become more pervasive such as in smart appliances at home, the update experience becomes even less tolerable, so finding a solution to this problem is a top priority for the PC industry. Intel understands this, as evidenced by their purchase of McAfee, so I'm cautiously optimistic that we'll see some improvements eventually."

Caveats
Auto update must be effective if it's to work. In three major updates to Office 2008 for the Mac in the last year, I've had to endure dialog boxes hidden inaccessibly behind other windows, mammoth downloads, and intrusive requirements to shut down all sorts of third-party software. The most perverse moment, each of the three times: the alert that I had to quit the Microsoft AutoUpdate program before I could proceed with the update.

It turns out I only had to quit an invisible dialog box asking me how often I wanted to check for updates. My gut reaction, given how awful the experience is: never! But a poorly implemented automatic update shouldn't hold back the automatic update idea overall.

We should each get to choose silent or verbose updates, but I've concluded that there's a role for silent updates, too.

Your opinion may differ, of course, and especially in a corporate environment caution is appropriate to avoid breaking existing computer systems. And think twice before you let any old software maker issue automatic updates.

"Users should decide their level of trust on a supplier-by-supplier basis, not app-by-app, and grant auto-update privileges only to those with a well-earned (established) reputation for software quality and customer support," Holst said.

Enabling auto update isn't such an easy choice for those with responsibility for managing dozens, hundreds, or thousands of computers, though.

"Corporate IT admins make every possible attempt to block auto-updating software because it often breaks other software the users need," said Jennifer Bayuk of the Stevens Institute of Technology. "Corporate admins do a lot of what is called 'sociability testing' to ensure that diverse software can operate in harmony on a single machine, and auto-updating software defeats the integrity of their desktop deployment strategy."

Web, Chrome OS, and phones
Perhaps the most ambitious embodiment of the auto-update era is Google's Chrome OS. It's a browser-based affair, running Web applications rather than anything on the Linux operating system hidden under the covers. Like Chrome, it's got two common plug-ins built in--a PDF reader and Adobe's Flash Player--so Chrome OS can take over responsibility for updating them, too.

With Chrome OS, Google will send updates automatically. It shouldn't be the user's responsibility to keep the software up to date, Google argues.

With Chrome OS and Web applications, the lines blur between Web applications and native applications. The auto-update era is already well-established at Web sites. Sometimes companies such as Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter, and Google give users a chance to opt in to new versions of their sites, but many more changes happen behind the scenes without the user's say-so, and the old versions eventually are phased out.

Web applications on Chrome OS can take a variety of forms ranging from glorified bookmarks to apps that work without a Net connection to browser extensions that give the browser new abilities. All these mechanisms, though, can be updated automatically.

Google also is headed this direction with Android. Newer versions of its mobile operating system let people grant applications permission to automatically update themselves. It didn't take me long to enable it for most applications.

Chrome OS, smartphones, Net-connected TVs, satellite navigation systems, and automobile firmware illustrate how software is moving beyond the relatively narrow domain of personal computers. Multiply today's update woes by these new electronics, then factor in the limited user interfaces many of these new devices, and the idea that users bear responsibility for keeping software up to date becomes increasingly untenable.

I see plenty of possible concerns with the auto-update era--incompatibilities, mistrust of corporations, new malware conduits, and intrusive user monitoring. But in my mind, the overall benefits outweigh the risks. I look forward to a world in which software is fluidly and constantly improved.

Originally posted at Deep Tech