After trying TuneUp Utilities 2010 I believe I've came to a decent conclusion.
TuneUp Utilities was a decent application with decent features. However the creators appear to have decided their isn't much they can do with it feature wise - I mean it's basically got most of the things you'd expect from a utility program like itself. This however is a big problem for the people behind TuneUp Utilities, as how do they make money on a program that has no future.
Well, they make money simply by redecorating. All TuneUp Utilities 2010 really is to me, is TuneUp Utilities with a new coat of paint. A new design, conveniently placed there, to distract the users of the program and make them think that the new program is different, that it has different features etc.
Now saying that however, I was impressed with the live start page of TuneUp Utilities 2009. Originally hating it due to its simularity with the 2008 version, I seemed to be getting security warnings about dangerous things being turned on that could be classed as a security risk, things that where missed by previous versions. I became to love 2009, but 2010 is a different case.
Don't get me wrong, the turbo mode is new, but for the price their charging for upgrades, never mind for the full new version for new users, you''d expect more. For the last few versions of TuneUp Utilities, all they seem to have done for each brand new version is add one or two new features and put a hefty price on it.
I believe the problem is partly down to bloat - If 2010 had loads of new features people would complain it slowed the system, had loads of stuff that it didn't need, and maybe even call TuneUp Utilities as a sell out - I mean WinZip used to be well popular but it's went downhill since it was bought by Corel - I myself use WinRAR. However when a program has a lack of features in a new version, yet charges a fair amount for users to upgrade, this also is looked at as something bad. And so the question one could ask is what really could TuneUp Utilities do from now on to stay in the middle?
Although I am no expert, I do have a couple of suggestions for its future versions. One main one people have mentioned is sorting out the already created features. If there's one thing I hate with software, it's when companies create new versions adding new features, yet ignoring the evident bugs in the already available features - Windows Live Messenger (formally MSN Messenger) comes to mind - as it's often crashing for people, messages don't get sent, issues with webcams etc. And Facebook chat is another example - The chat service rarely works, often disconnects users and yet they keep adding new stuff ignoring it.
For example someone mentioned the system information feature - I was trying to sell an old computer and found this feature kind of useless and so used something else, I believe Belarc Advisor. Belarc Advisor was able to generate loads of information about my pc, software, hardware etc, into a document which I could simply print out, pass on to people via paper and also attachments in emails. Not only does TuneUp's version not give anything like the amount of information I obtained with Belarc Advisor, it also appears to me, not even to have a feature allowing you to print out the information or save it into a document.
I'd also like to see a lot more updates. For example, TuneUp could work on an improved system information, and send it out into an update - This would make users happy as they'd see they where getting there moneys worth and that the product is always being worked on.
My final issue might not even be an issue as I can't 100 percent claim it. As I already had 2009 when 2010 was announced via email, I obviously didn't buy 2009 again. However, I tried the shop a few times prior to 2010's actual release and although I didn't obviously go through with payment or anything, It appeared I could buy 2009 with no mention of 2010. I haven't seen any mention of a free upgrade if you've bought an old version of TuneUp Utilities within a certain length of time from the release of the next version. My question is, do the deliberately not mention 2010 anywhere on the site (well just about apart from press releases, but you have to hunt a bit for that), with the hope that users will purchase the latest version, discover a new one has already came out and then pay for yet another one. I mean no mention of 2010 till release day anywhere but the press release. As I've never bought a version close to when a new ones out I can't really say anything though.
