Wednesday Websites We Love | Ninite
The great thing about working at Blueshoon is that everyone here is so knowledgeable about computers and can suggest cool tools to make your life easier. Last week, we talked about 10 Minute Mail. This week’s cool tool can be found at Ninite.com and is this week’s Wednesday Website We Love.
Whenever I start my computer, I’m immediately bombarded with programs telling me to update them, which of course I put off. As a result, my computer takes longer to start up because it’s checking for multiple updates and therefore slows it down. That alone is a waste of time.
Ninite.com is a free service that installs and updates all your freeware programs at once. First, you select any program you have or want from the lists of programs. If you don’t have a program that’s on the list but you want it, tick the box and it will install it for you. Next, click “Get Installer” and Ninite goes to work installing the new programs you don’t have and updating the ones you already have.
The best part about Ninite.com is that it ONLY installs and updates the program and nothing more. Therefore, it weeds out toolbars, special offers, and other junk you get when you install a program. It does everything in the background and doesn’t ask you a ton of questions (and you don’t have to go from screen to screen clicking “next” a thousand times!)
This is great for people who buy a new computer and want to add common freeware applications to them. All the freeware on Ninite are trustworthy downloads so you don’t have to wonder if you’re downloading the wrong application or one that has spyware embedded in it, which is the last thing you want to install on a brand new computer.
Unfortunately, Ninite only works with PC’s (Sorry Apple lovers). However, GetMacApps.com is a similar site just for Mac users. Ninite only works with freeware so if you have purchased software like the Adobe Suite, you’ll need to update these yourself. The other drawback is that Ninite doesn’t automatically update programs; therefore, you have to go back and repeat the process when you want to mass-update your freeware. However, you can purchase the “Ninite Updater” for only $9.99/year that will alert you updates and painlessly update them for you.