Ask Paul: August 19 (Premium)

Happy Friday! I’m back from Mexico City after what felt like a month away and am ready to kick off the weekend.
Android 13 on Pixel
crunchyfrog asks:

I have a Pixel 6 running Android 12. So far all I have received is a small update. Usually when a new Android is released, my Pixel can install it right away but so far, no Android 13. Was this early release delayed or staggered in some way? Is there an issue with the release that I'm not seeing it?

Like you, I assumed that all users on supported Pixels would see this upgrade on day one, but I’ve now heard from multiple people---including Mary Jo--that they’re not seeing it. And so I went back to the original blog posts (on the Android Developer Blog and Google’s The Keyword blog) to see if there was a hint in the language used.

There is: in both cases, Google says that “Android 13 is rolling out to Pixel devices starting today.” The key word there is “starting,” apparently. My Pixel 6 Pro and the review-unit Pixel 6a both got the final release on day one, but they were both in the beta.

And on that note, the good news is that you can force it if you want it immediately: go to the Android Developer website and enroll your Pixel in the beta, then check for an update on your Pixel (Settings > System > System Update) and install the final release. Then, after you reboot and you’re on Android 13, return to that same page on the Android Developer website and opt out of future beta releases so you can stay on the normal/stable Android 13 update path.

Note, however, that upgrading to Android 13 is a one-way street. Once you do so, you cannot return to Android 12.
Software vs. hardware
wright_is asks:

Continuing from the discussion on WW, Windows in business, it isn't really about user education, most don't know one end of Windows from the other, it is the software that is the problem, orphaned or obsoleted by the software writer.

Our biggest problem is control software for labs, production facilities etc. the equipment is expected to last 20 years, the software in the past wasn't expected to be networked and if the PC went out of date, there wasn't a problem, you just kept using the old version. The problem is, Windows has changed since the 80s, but the idea of control software hasn't. You buy it with the production line & if Windows changes, you need to buy a new production line, because they won't invest money getting it to work on newer Windows, so you are stuck with a 6-7 figure bill, just because a $100 part (Windows) has changed.

(It is also the same on Linux, I've seen production line systems in 2016 running SUSE Linux from 2000, because that is all the software running the entire factory supported. They had to virtualise it eventually, because they could no longer find any SCSI RAID cards that had drivers for such an old Kernel.

Do you think this incongruity will ever go away?

Our current production monitoring software requires IE...