NPM is a well-maintained tool. Version 5 got major updates in speed and usability. They where aware of the Node release cycle and implemented the new version in advance so it would be rolled out alongside Node. NPM now does way faster caching than before, can lock dependencies in specific versions more easily (inspired by Yarn) and may have a flat dependency tree if your project demands it (like when using Polymer and it's components. like Bower works).