The thing is you are using YOUR blogging software. Once you downloaded it and installed it on your server (or used an automatic installer to have it installed on your server) it became yours. Technically you got it under a license issued by the creator, which pretty much means "you can't sell it", but it is still yours. Yours to do with as you see fit, and yours to maintain over the useful life.

So on spam, how about "report and ban the offending keyword / url using the built in antispam system" as an option? Deleting, deprecating, ignoring won't make them stop. Nothing will, but reporting and banning will at least stop it from actually reaching you.

Upgrading is easy but not painless. Search the forums as it's been covered many many times, but basically you download v2.4.7 then backup your database and files, then unzip the new version, then edit conf/_basic_config.php and put in the bits you find in a similarly named file in your current conf folder, then upload the new files. Your customized skin, if any, will be gone. Oh well.

You do the backups to ensure it works. If you don't backup your stuff it'll fail and you'll wish you had. If you do it'll work and you'll wonder why you have these backups.

But you don't have to upgrade. Same as someone doesn't have to buy a new car just cuz there is a new one out there. BUT problems get harder and harder to fix when less and less people are familiar with and/or working on whatever it is you're hanging on to eh?

Thanks for your reply - I wish I understood all the techie bits...I don't...
So maybe I'll stick with the old version till it breaks and then get someone who knows what they are doing...or switch to Blogger as they automatically update you with new versions I think

Thanks again

You can check here for someone who will do an upgrade for you ^^ -> http://b2evolution.net/about/professionals.php