Quote from: DireWolfM14 on December 12, 2020, 05:44:35 PM

It does take a bit of trust to be among the first to install a new release, but you can also verify for yourself that the download is safe.

First and foremost, you should learn how to verify the download using ThomasV's PGP signature. This will ensure that you've downloaded the official version signed by the developer. Even if Electrum's website gets hacked, and the download link is directed to a malicious version, this will mitigate your risks. Here's a tutorial I wrote: [GUIDE] How to Safely Download and Verify Electrum [Guide].

If you still don't trust the binary releases, you can always take some time to verify the code hasn't been manipulated with nefarious intent. If you go the Electrum repository, you can browse through the changes made in real time. You can confirm for yourself that only the changes published in the release notes are implemented into the code.

And if you're still doubtful about the binary releases, you can even run electrum right from the source code. It's fairly easy if you're running Linux and have all the python dependencies installed (which you probably do if it's a recently released OS.)

Electrum's github.com repository: https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum
Electrum's Release Notes (change-logs): https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/blob/master/RELEASE-NOTES
Electrum's previous releases: https://download.electrum.org/

Great one.
As a bit of a reminder for myself and OP, I usually always wait before updating simply because if we are not talking about a security update (fixing critical bugs or vulnerabilities) I usually wait at least one week before any update. If you follow DireWolfM14 guide you will always make sure to have downloaded the legit version but if you like to have some peace of mind, just wait a bit. The previous version works perfectly fine.
In fact, I am not gonna update anytime soon Grin