Some versions of BuddyPress require a specific version of WordPress. So if you’re using an old version of WordPress (you should upgrade that asap, obviously), you need to use the version of BuddyPress that last supported that version of WordPress.
Thanks for your reply With “require”, you mean that BuddyPress won’t work at all if WordPress is not updated too?
If I can ask the opposite. I see WP have an update at the moment. Should we update WP when we see there is an update available. I would be worried the BP installed (I have the latest one) will not work with the newest WP.
When a major release (such as 3.4) of WordPress is released you should be wary of updating WordPress if BuddyPress has not been updated yet as their are usually major changes.
When WordPress releases Minor releases (such as 3.3.2) it’s very rare that their will be any breakages as they are primarily used to repair bugs and fix security issues.
I personally wait an hour or two after a minor release for the core devs to do some last minute testing before i upgrade my sites (the BP devs are pretty quick to get a release out if something does break.)
Can’t be said often enough, backup DB before upgrading and watch out for WP and add-on BP plugin compatibility as well.