Every virtual or dedicated hosting machine has its own Operating System and operates independently from the hosting servers of other clients. Updating the Operating system is often ignored, but doing that could have a wide range of benefits for your internet sites. The most significant reason to use the most recent version is that patches are frequently released to deal with security holes in the Os code, so if you don't install the updates, you risk individuals with malicious intentions to take advantage of these holes and to gain access to your content. Operating system updates are also released for improved efficiency of the system overall and for far better compatibility with the hardware on the market, which could immediately influence the functionality of your sites. If the functionality and the security of your scripts is the reason to update them, you could also discover that their most up-to-date versions require an updated Operating System so as to function properly, therefore keeping the OS up-to-date is always recommended.