Are any updates issued to encourage us to buy new programs?

TheDog · 16 May 2014

Hi, I Would like to inquire about Microsoft update policies. I know there are security updates, as well as general updates to programs and the operating system. The security updates I have no problem with. I wonder about some of the other updates though.
Is it possible that some of these updates are issued to make your older versions of, for instance, Office (Office 2010) seem to loose luster so that you will replace them with something newer, or should such questions be relegated to realm of conspiracy theories, bigfoot, and the aboginable snowperson?
It is easy to see the value to a company if they can make your old stuff less usable so that they can sell you something new. Question is, would they be so unscrupulous as to do that?
If they were to do such a thing, would simply not downloading the updates to a system that is working just fine be an acceptable way to approach the problem, so long as you installed the security updates?
I do of course recognize that I could just be picking up glitches with time. Thanks for your attention to this concern.
The Dog

andrew129260 · 16 May 2014

Trust me, if that happened more than a few users would notice.

A lot of us would.

I personally doubt it.

Layback Bear · 16 May 2014

If that was the case we all would be hearing screams and hollower from all over the would.

Now one could say when Microsoft stops updates on a old operating system or Office programs they are trying to get you to buy a newer operating system or Office product.

When a car manufacture extended warranty has reached it's end and the Sales Person recommends buying a new car; it's still your choice what to do.

TheDog · 17 May 2014

Thanks for the response to both of you. It eases the worry a lot, and it makes sense. Thanks again. The Dog.

jadinolf · 17 May 2014

I'm still using Office 2000 and MS Picture-It! 99 and Microsoft has never pestered me.

On Windows 7? Yep

TheDog · 18 May 2014

Hey jadinolf, I hear what you say about Windows 2000. My little used desktop is running Windows XP and it still works as well. I guess I really must have been imagining abominable snowpersons lying in wait behind every chip and hard drive. The Dog

jadinolf · 18 May 2014

TheDog said:

Hey jadinolf, I hear what you say about Windows 2000. My little used desktop is running Windows XP and it still works as well. I guess I really must have been imagining abominable snowpersons lying in wait behind every chip and hard drive. The Dog

Yep, but in this case it's Office 2000. Works fine on Windows 7.

I was also told that Picture-It would not work on 7. I darned near cried because that program is just like me---Simple.

TheDog · 20 May 2014

Hi again, I should assume that you have searched and tried things to get picture-it to work. In case you have not though, this link to a thread at answers.microsoft.com details some ideas, though some of them are somewhat tedious perhaps.
Microsoft Picture It incompatability with Windows 7 and alternatives - Microsoft Community
The Dog

jadinolf · 20 May 2014

TheDog said:

Hi again, I should assume that you have searched and tried things to get picture-it to work. In case you have not though, this link to a thread at answers.microsoft.com details some ideas, though some of them are somewhat tedious perhaps.
Microsoft Picture It incompatability with Windows 7 and alternatives - Microsoft Community
The Dog

It does work fine for me with the exception of one thing which I learned to live without.

That is the placing of type on the picture. When I try that, the program crashes. I had the same problem with XP.

I now go here if I need to do it: roflbot - add text and captions to your pictures

I will, however read what your link has to say. Thanks.

jadinolf · 25 May 2014

Forgot to mention that I also have installed Quicken Basic 99.

Only thing is I cannot register it. I guess the procedure has changed over the years.

No big deal.