> Seems like you need to default to auto update but have an opt out.
We have that. Our software auto-updates, but when you start our program you get a launcher where you can select one of the last five minor versions for each available major version.
Typically the next major version is made immediately available and active in the test environment, while a "boss user" gates them in prod.
When setting a new major version as active, the previous ones are still available for a long time, along with any potential new minor versions for those.
This has made our life so much easier, since any critical issues can almost always be worked around by the user simply launching a previous version, either minor or possibly major. So we can be much more aggressive with pushing out changes, which our customers also appreciate.
It's not perfect but works very well for us and our customers seem happy.
It does require us being careful when making database schema changes, or similar potentially breaking changes. But a lot can be handled quite transparently in the database (using views typically) or through code, and our database upgrade tool can also migrate data as a last resort.
We have that. Our software auto-updates, but when you start our program you get a launcher where you can select one of the last five minor versions for each available major version.
Typically the next major version is made immediately available and active in the test environment, while a "boss user" gates them in prod.
When setting a new major version as active, the previous ones are still available for a long time, along with any potential new minor versions for those.
This has made our life so much easier, since any critical issues can almost always be worked around by the user simply launching a previous version, either minor or possibly major. So we can be much more aggressive with pushing out changes, which our customers also appreciate.
It's not perfect but works very well for us and our customers seem happy.
It does require us being careful when making database schema changes, or similar potentially breaking changes. But a lot can be handled quite transparently in the database (using views typically) or through code, and our database upgrade tool can also migrate data as a last resort.