Hard Cider Index

by Don Engstrom

If you are like me you probably have more than a few outdated applications, extensions and control panels floating around your hard drive. You know they are there but don't have the time or inclination to manually track them down and update them. While sites like VersionTracker offer a one stop shopping approach to keeping abreast of current software versions, there is still a lot of legwork involved in comparing those version numbers to ones on your hard drive. Fortunately the folks at Insider Software have come up with a solution.

UpdateAgent - The program consists of two separate applications, UpdateAgent CD and UpdateAgent Online. Both of these applications work in the same way, by comparing software installed on your hard drive to a database of currently available software. The advantage of UpdateAgent CD is that once newer versions are found you can load them to your drive quickly from the CD. The disadvantage is that the CD's are released only quarterly and may not contain the very latest versions due to production lag time. To get a more up to date listing, use the UpdateAgent Online application which downloads Insider Software's online database.

Installation and Use- Insider Software pitches UpdateAgent as being able to update all of your software in "just two clicks" and amazingly enough it is true. The installer places the two applications mentioned above on your hard drive. I suspected I would have several outdated items so I opted to run the UpdateAgent CD application first to spare myself some download time. Starting the application brought up a minimal interface with a start button and the option to specify which drives to scan. After accessing the database on the CD, UpdateAgent scanned my (90% full) 2 Gig drive in short order. I was then presented with a "Results" window with 24 updaters available for transfer! Most of these were updates, a couple were readme files for upgrades which would have to be bought. From the results window you can un-check any file you are not interested in downloading. Files that you skip are moved to a "Skipped Files" folder in the results window and are marked so they don't keep showing up as new updates. To download these files later simply open the "Skipped Files" folder, re-check them and click on "Get." Clicking on a file will often bring up information about improvements and bug fixes. Another nice feature is the link to the product's home page or download page to get even more in-depth information. Once you have weeded out the files you don't want you simply click on the "Get" button to transfer the remainder from the CD.

After running the CD application I ran the Online application to see how current the CD listing was. I found about 6 programs that were newer than the CD offerings. After downloading these six, I spot checked a few files to see if they were in fact the most current version available. I only found one outdated file, GraphicConverter 3.4.1. The current version as of this writing is 3.6.1 (as noted by VersionTracker) with several interim releases above 3.4.1 as well. That said, one miss out of 24 isn't too bad. The whole process excluding download time was well under ten minutes and spared me an afternoon of tracking down outdated software. One feature I would like to see to round out this program is an option to seek out and trash outdated software once the update has been downloaded.

Flavors - There are a variety of options for buying and using UpdateAgent. The Limited Edition lets you use UpdateAgent one time to bring all of your software up to date at a cost of $9.95. The Online Edition offers you unlimited updates for one year at a cost of $59.95 or $49.95 if you order and download the program online. The last and most expensive option is the CD Edition which includes 1.3GB of compressed updater files for quick transfer to stand alone or networked computers. The CD Edition will cost you $89.95 for one or $249.95 for a set of four released quarterly.

Recommendations - I was very impressed with the simplicity and speed of UpdateAgent. As we all know programs can be buggy when they are released and often go through several revisions to work out the kinks and add requested features. If you are looking for a painless way to get your programs and system software up to snuff, look no farther! For most users the Limited Edition should be sufficient and is a steal at $9.95 when you consider the time you would spend tracking down updates manually. The Online Edition with its ability to schedule automatic downloads will appeal to those who truly want to stay up to date. The CD Edition offers the added bonus of acting as a repository of Mac Shareware. I had fun poking through the folders of compressed files and quickly added 100MB of new software to my Mac... Risk of filling your hard drive aside, do yourself a favor and get your hands on UpdateAgent. The time you save is well worth the price of admission.

Download the Demo Here