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This article is in progress, with more information added on an application-by-application basis.
Software/Applications Versions Overview
Modern application development usually means that apps are updated frequently -- as often as weekly or several times per month. This can lead to alert fatigue as folks simply get tired of keeping up with updates on their computers.
In general at Mount Holyoke College we are using the slow release track, enterprise version, or extended support versions of common software. These release tracks have a slower release cycle and are usually not testing the newest features. Using the slow track or equivalent allows LITS staff to learn about upcoming features that might impact how members of the MHC community use the software, as well as to manage new features to comply with data handling or other applicable policies.
Zoom client
Version history page: https://support.zoom.com/hc/en/article?id=zm_kb&sysparm_article=KB0061900
At MHC we are generally providing the Slow Track version. Most office computers should be checking for updates on their own, and we'll patch at the end of the patch cycle to bring computers up to the latest Slow Track version.
Periodically, Zoom enforces a minimum version that can interact with the service. We cannot make exceptions for this version, so it's usually less complicated to make sure everyone's computer is on the current Slow Track version.
Google Chrome
Version history blog: https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/
At MHC we use the Stable branch. Google usually does "A/B" testing on releases, so the applications are released in pairs with just one digit difference in the last number: X.X.X.134 and X.X.X.135. If computers update themselves, they may get either version. If we need to patch, we'll patch to the higher version.
Mozilla Firefox
Firefox is a secondary browser for MHC. We supply the Extended Support Release. https://wiki.mozilla.org/Releases
Microsoft Office
Microsoft releases updates for Office apps for Windows on the second Tuesday of the month ("Patch Tuesday") along with patches for other MS apps and supported versions of Windows.
Microsoft releases updates for Office apps for macOS on the Tuesday following the second Sunday of the month (so it's sometimes a week after the Windows versions). Since about December of 2024, Microsoft have gone from releasing the monthly release plus maybe a single bug fix patch once a month, to 3-4 releases per month. This gets confusing very fast, and we're currently patching to the main monthly release version but examining other options.