ghacks round-up: Battle of the Software Updaters

[mouser]

Well here's a software round up that was long overdue, and Martin over at ghacks does a nice job with it.

Keeping the installed software on your computer up to date can be a time consuming task considering that users tend to have 100+ applications installed on their computers at the same time. To make matters worse there is no general way - like in Linux - to update your applications. Some offer build in update notifications but most do not have this feature.

The only way was until recently to visit the websites that host the applications manually and check for new versions. Some offered mailing lists or RSS feeds which could be used to stay informed without visiting the website right away.

So called Software Updaters could be the solution. There are actually quite a few programs out there that scan your computer for applications and display a list of outdated ones after the scan. But which one finds the most applications, which has the database that is updated most frequently and which actually works?

That’s what I’m going to find out today with the battle of the software updaters. The applications that I tried are:

• AppGet
• Appupdater
• File Hippo Update Checker
• Secunia Personal Software Inspector
• Sumo
• Update Star

http://www.ghacks.net/2008/01/18/battle-of-the-software-updaters/

[Perry Mowbray]

An interesting read, thanks Mouser...

points out fairly plainly that 3rd party updaters have a way to go unless the developer has active input (such as DCupdater): pity really.

[Grorgy]

Apart from the very specialised DCupdater the only one i like is the file hippo one, gives you some nice options, like skipping a program altogether or just that update and whether to show betas or not, its only downside for me is its only for software they have at their site but then in a way thats a plus because you at least know where to find it 

[TomColvin]

As it happens, I recently looked at updaters a couple weeks ago, as I was recovering from a hard disk crash.  I came across AppGet, which apparently has itself been updated since the gHack survey.  It worked just fine for me.

[saved279]

I like Secunia.  It's easy to use and works for about 90% of the 103 programs I have installed.