This was only the case because pre-1.03 firmware does not control the updated version of hardware properly (identifiable by aerial in/out sockets paired vertically instead of horizontally), and at the time we had no way to restore 1.03.xx firmware if you corrupted it (by, say, loading 1.02.32). Now there is a rip of 1.03.12 available, this is no longer a concern (pre-1.03 firmware probably won't work if you have the updated hardware, but there is no actual harm to be done by installing it).
My model has the aerial sockets horizontal.. Thanks for the info.
neuty