If you were starting a system from scratch, especially for someone without a wealth of Windows knowledge, Ninite could be a smooth ride. Pick out apps to install, install them all with no prompts or questions, then use the Updater to watch the apps, ping only when updates need installing, and only click once more to update everything. Because Ninite covers some of the apps more prone to security risks, like Flash, browsers, Java and others, it’s especially nice to have an app watching your programs for you.
Ninite’s Updater isn’t free, but at $US10 per year, it’s certainly worth the meter money for a computer you don’t want to see fall out of date. There’s a discount for bulk licenses covering five or more machines, too. If you were dead set on getting update coverage out of Ninite, there’s a Task Scheduler work-around, but it will lack finesse and compatibility with certain apps’ update protocols.
Johann
Wednesday, July 6, 2011 at 11:33 AMThe only benefit over keeping your Ninite installer and running it every now and again (or regularly via a scheduled task with admin rights) is that it updates every app on your system which Ninite supports regardless of whether you used Ninite to install it originally. Probably worth $10 unless you have a lot of PCs in which case just stick to a scheduled ‘normal’ Ninite installer. Remember that you can always create a new Ninite installer which includes apps you didn’t originally install via Ninite if you want the installer to keep other apps uptodate.
Ninite do have some great Pro offerings worth looking at if you’re in desktop support – cached downloads, version control, background installs etc. Great stuff.
Pierre
Wednesday, July 6, 2011 at 11:35 AMOr you can try FileHippo Update Checker (http://www.filehippo.com/updatechecker) which is similar but free
Matthew
Wednesday, July 6, 2011 at 1:52 PMOr perhaps Cnet TechTracker, which does require you to log in every time you go to the TechTracker page, but it contains the full Cnet Download library.