How to upgrade to the latest Anaconda 5.0.1

Question

I have Anaconda 4.4.0 (Windows, Python 3.6., 64 bit). I would like to upgrade to latest Anaconda 5.0.1

Few options:

1. Download the full installer and run it
2. From existing installation (of 4.4.0) run "conda update --all"
3. From existing installation run "conda update anaconda"

What is the tradeoff among these options? What is the recommended one?

Answer 1

1. Download the full installer: Provided that you uninstall your existing Anaconda, this method will be least likely to cause upgrade problems. It will also probably be slower. Note that I think you should uninstall the old Anaconda so that you don't end up with two conda[.exe] files, two Anaconda Prompt shortcuts, and so forth. You may end up trying to install a package with the wrong conda and be very confused about what's happening.
2. conda update --all: This will update all of your packages in the environment to their latest version, regardless of their version in the Anaconda installer. This is not recommended because you will end up with package versions that are different from the ones in the Anaconda installer and you may end up with an error message about packages that are incompatible.
3. conda update anaconda: This will update the "metapackage" called anaconda to the latest version. This package has dependencies on specific versions of all of the packages and Anaconda (the company) give some assurance that these will all work together. So, updating the anaconda package will update all your packages to the version used in the latest version of the Anaconda installer.

My suggestion (based on some experience, I am not an employee of Anaconda) would be to try #3 and if it fails, try #1.