Am a little unsure what I should be doing here. Is it best for me to keep upgrading as new versions emerge or should I just stick with what I have? I am relatively computer literate but feel a bit overwhelmed by this. Any simple information you can give me that would help my system not to crash or cause major problems would be great!
Also, what should my 'update' settings be set to? Should I just 'tick' all the boxes?
You are using 12.04 LTS which is having support up to April 2017. So up to 2017 you will receive all types of updates from Ubuntu. Ubuntu 14.04 is a LTS so when ever its released you can upgrade from 12.04 > 14.04 .
If you wan to upgrade to 13.04 then, you first upgrade to 12.10 and then to 13.04 .In a few days 13.10 will be out.
12.04 > 12.10 > 13.04 > 13.10 .
Regarding crashes and stability: When your Ubuntu version is still under support it will get all types of updates including fixing crashes.
Updates: You can click on all of the updates but not "proposed/pre-released updates" , they are released for testing.
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If you wish have new improvements and new software versions you can upgrade. That of course has a cost and that cost is stability. If your aim is have a stable systems, reliable for work you should keep using the LTS version 12.04. The next LTS is gonna be 14.04. I prefer stability rather than new software. Thus, I update from LTS to LTS.
I tried out Ubuntu 13.10 beta release, and its quite stable. I recommend you wait just 7 more days for the release of Ubuntu 13.10. The mainstream release is coming out on 17 October.
Are you happy with the way your system is working? Is it stable?
If you're going to upgrade you should backup all your user-data . . . pictures, music, documents, email, etc. Of course you should do that regularly anyway, but you really need to do it before you upgrade.
After you upgrade, there will be lots of little tweaks you've made to your system that won't survive the upgrade. You'll discover them and have to re-tweak them.
You really do have to upgrade from time to time. Some people would rather upgrade every six months and they put up with the annoyances. If that's you, backup then upgrade. Others would rather put off the upgrades, and they stick with the Long Term Support version.
There's no right answer, there's personal inclanation.
