Automatic updates have been an enormous boon to security and when done correctly are really helpful. I don't look back with fondness on the wild west of Windows

Automatic updates have been an enormous boon to security and when done correctly are really helpful. I don't look back with fondness on the wild west of Windows XP where out of the box merely connecting to the internet guaranteed a virus infection and service pack updates were an enormous pain. What I think has been lost in the past decade or so is the distinction between Major and Minor releases. I'm all for regular minor updates whose only goal is security and stability improvements. When a Major update comes around I know that i'm in for things being changed, possible breakage, etc, but at least I know ahead of time and have the ability to opt out. But with the rise of always connected software, software as a service, what have you, there are no "versions" to settle on. I needed to do some art work recently so just got back into the Adobe world and there is no Photoshop CS3 or Photoshop CS6 you can buy and use. Instead, you can only buy a subscription to "Photoshop" - which is always the most recent version. This story is playing out everywhere with software houses abandoning Major versions you can buy and going for subscriptions. They don't ever want to have you able to buy a version you like and stick with it because there is no recurring revenue in it.