FIFA , Madden NFL , and NBA2K are some of the worldās most popular and longest-running multi-platform video game series , year in and year out.
Why, though? Whether itās NBA2K or FIFA, the gameās premise doesnāt change. Itās still: kick the ball between the white posts, and red cards are bad. But players still upgrade every year to the latest version.
Hold up, what exactly do football, soccer, and basketball video games have in common with printers? Well, updating software is similar to updating a video game. Itās got a pretty new face, but the core purpose remains unchanged.
(Yes, video games are essentially software, just, let me have my fun, okay).
Time to level-up your software
Upgrading software is easy to put off. Anybody whoās ever hit āSnoozeā on their OS update will agree.
I want you to think of upgrading your software as leveling up your software. You want to download a new version of software with the same excitement of updating a video game.
In this particular case, Iām specifically talking about leveling up to our latest release, PaperCut 21.1 .
End-of-life announcement for PaperCut 17.0 and 18.0
In video game terms, if youāre still rocking older versions of PaperCut, there are years of EXP points youāre not getting your VR gloves on.
Speaking of, the absolute oldest PaperCut versions you can possibly be running right now are 17.0 and 18.0. But not for much longer. We recently announced the end-of-life (EOL) for PaperCut MF and PaperCut NG versions 17 and 18 .
PaperCut MF and PaperCut NG 17.0 were actually scheduled for last year, but that deprecation was extended in response to the pandemic. We wanted to give businesses some breathing room and didnāt want to pile on in the middle of a global health crisis.
However, itās gotten to the point where we need to say goodbye to version 17, so it will reach end-of-life at the same time as version 18ās originally scheduled deprecation. The end-of-life for versions 17 and 18 will occur on September 30th for customers without current PaperCut Maintenance & Support (M&S) , and on December 31st for customers with current M&S.
Why is updating software versions important?
While it looks like weāre deprecating two versions at the same time, one is behind schedule, and the other is sticking to schedule. If you havenāt upgraded to 21.1 by that time, your PaperCut software will be out-of-date. It will still work, but it wonāt be fully supported.
Weāve written before on why tech companies End-of-Life their older versions. Stated simply, there is a shelf life on how long we can patch and update older systems. We need to make room for building and supporting new features and functionality.
Continuing this video game analogy (Iām known for driving metaphors into the ground), I want you to think of up-to-date software best practices as providing two levels of benefits…
Level 1: ongoing maintenance and support
Running deprecated software leaves you vulnerable to security breaches.
Hardware rapidly evolves, and software needs to follow suit. But thereās only so much bandwidth engineers and developers have. They need to reduce the number of versions theyāre maintaining to ensure the software matches the pace of new hardware.
On top of patches and fixes, sometimes you need to speak to someone directly for help. For PaperCut customers, updating to the latest version includes a Maintenance & Support subscription. Our Support team records enviable NPS rankings (okay, you got me, Iām trying to be modest, objective, and a little bit braggadocious there). By updating your software youāre protected with M&S.
Level 2: new features and functionality
This is the super fun and exciting part of keeping software up to date. You get access to the newest features and enhancements for your print environment. If youāre still running PaperCut 17.0 when you update youāre catching up on 4+ years worth of major build goodies.
Itāll be like going from 2K17 to 2K21, where youāre giddy with all the changes: āWoah, new shot-meter! Cool, new game modes! YAAAAAS, the team roster is current! Woah, Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving are all on the Brooklyn Nets now?!ā
Youāll be happy to hear itās also a relatively easy jump from your older version to the current version.
Boss mode activated!
Usually, when you reach the last level of a video game, thatās when you face the big boss! Except when you update to PaperCut 21.1, thatāll be you, youāll be the boss!
So look at the task of upgrading each year as embracing your destiny and exiting off-screen right onto a new and exciting adventure.
(I know I started by talking about sports simulations, and now I appear to be referencing side-scrolling platform games, just, let me have my fun and mix my metaphors, okay, gosh).
If youāre running PaperCut 17.0 or 18.0, itās time to level up (thatās bingo for those following along as to how much Iāll overdo this gag) and enact your upgrading plan.
Not sure where to start? Check out our how-to upgrade guide.
