Instead of a standalone tool that gives you an overview of all available updates, FileHippo Update Checker forwards you to its website where you'll get direct links to the updated program:įrom here, you can launch a download to the latest version. Scorecard: Update detection: 3.5/5 stars User interface/ease-of-use: 5/5 stars FileHippo Update CheckerįileHippo's Update Checker performs a check of your system's programs folder and detects out-of-date programs. One downside: Ninite didn't detect some of the programs such as the widely-popular CCLeaner, SnagIt 11, DiskAid, TuneUp Utilities 2013, and the codec-pack "Win8Codecs". Plus, Ninite Updater automatically downloads all the applications and installs them silently.
But guess what: I actually like this approach as I personally want these software updaters to JUST WORK and not make me spend too much time manually fiddling with updates and settings. There are no exclusion lists, no descriptions, no fancy online integration. You'll get a list of all out-of-date applications and can access the update with just a click of a button. The Ninite Updater interface is a lot simpler than any other solution I looked at. Scorecard: Update detection: 2.5/5 stars User interface/ease-of-use: 2.5/5 stars Ninite Updater
And when I tried to check for updates to a clearly outdated program (Chrome 24, in this example), I was directed to KCSoftware's cluttered website that doesn't offer direct links to the updates.
I was surprised to find that Google Chrome and Skype couldn't be detected automatically. The program checks for updates for more than 90,000 programs, but on my test machines SUMo only detected updates for 3 programs (Adobe AIR, Java 32-Bit, Java 64-Bit).
If you're using a lot of portable programs that don't require installation or if you're missing a program on the list, the "Add" button helps you locate the executable that you'd like to check on a regular basis. My advice, though, is to use the "Scan" feature to perform a complete disk scan: Once installed (beware the annoying toolbars that SUMo tries to install), SUMo automatically checks your Start menu for commonly-used applications that are out-of-date. Scorecard: Update detection: 2/5 stars User interface/ease-of-use: 5/5 stars SUMo (Software Update Monitor) Think about it rather as an additional security checker.
Unfortunately, other products that I deliberately kept out of date (Skype, DropBox, DiskAid, and SnagIt) were not detected - granted, these tools probably are not at a high risk from being compromised, but it would still be nice to have them covered.īottom line: If you're looking for an all-in-one update utility, PSI is not it. Secunia focuses heavily on security-related patches, which is why browsers (Chrome, Firefox) and web technologies ( Java, Adobe AIR) are at the top of their list. The free tool ( corporate users need to pay!) is a tad more user friendly than UpdateStar and offers a clean overview of programs that are in dire need of updating: Probably the most commonly used of the utilities on this list, Secunia PSI, is actually more of a security application than a classic software updater. Of 3 Secunia Personal Software Inspector (PSI)