Many houses have formal previews of the latest software presented to user groups. Don't be afraid to ask for a demo of the latest software, if a user group preview was not available or if there is a long time between the preview and the time the upgrade is actually release. If a particular area of the software has many changes and it is one that you rely upon regularly, find out if there are any known bugs and their work arounds before you get involved in the upgrade installation. Fixing one problem can cause new ones. It is a never-ending cycle.
Computers are all about change.
It takes several kinds of software, including an operating system and various applications, to operate a computer. All of them have to be in sync and all get updated at different times. However, you may not yet have this operating system installed on your computer when you receive the update. This can complicate installation and operation because so much of the software is intertwined. Once a user has committed to an update, he may find another obstacle.