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First of all: I am aware of the rule for "a" vs. "an" be it a noun or an abbreviation following (see When should I use "a" vs "an"?). So following this rule the answer would be "an SW".

But how about:

I need to perform __ SW update.

Will the rule still be valid if you consider that - in the context of SW=software - probably no one will ever read this as "an ess-double-ju update" but always read this as "a software update"?

What would you recommend here?

ultimate
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    You misunderstood the rule. The rule is: use "a" if it's pronounced starting with a consonant and "an" if it's pronounced starting with a vowel. If "SW" is pronounced software, then it starts with a consonant sound, and you use "a". – Peter Shor Jun 07 '22 at 12:21
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    You can't account for everyone, so only worry about how you're reading it. Once you know that, you can pick your article. – Matt E. Эллен Jun 07 '22 at 12:31
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    This is author's choice. How is the reader likely to pronounce the term? – Hot Licks Jun 07 '22 at 12:56
  • Thanks for your comments. I was thinking so: author's choice + expected pronounciation (instead of how it's written) – ultimate Jun 08 '22 at 12:54

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