upgrading distros

[atl2ptown]

Just curious how everyone upgrades their systems? If I dl a more current version, does it install only the items that come with the new version like a Windows upgrade? Any information would be appreciated.

PS this is hypathetical, so I don't necessarily have a particular system in mind.

[prince_kenshi]

Well basically yeah. With SuSE, I would just tell it to install without formatting the partition and it would maintain all my personal files and extra programs. I have Debian now and I believe it's similar.