Update Agent 3.0
Insider Software, Inc.
Price: $89.95
http://www.insidersoftware.com
What can you say about a product as good as this one? Certainly not enough to do it justice. Update Agent 3.0 is a program every serious Macintosh user should have on hand. It’s designed for anyone who wants or requires the most up-to-date, bug-free software available.
Update Agent, from Insider Software, is a very simple to use program. The concept is easy enough: have a simple interface and allow people to download the latest and greatest updated program found on your hard drive. This is no small task, but Update Agent 3.0 does it better than any other program, and is much easier to use than any software update website.
Not long ago, Mac users were forced to check in periodically with all the vendors who made the software we use. Do you use Office 98? If so, you’d better drop by Microsoft’s website from time to time to see if there’s an update. Same with Photoshop. And let’s not forget all the shareware and freeware programs we love to download. Do you have the latest version of GraphicConverter? Do you have the latest version of Worm Scanner, or how about Apple Disk Copy?
Sure, we could visit a website such as Version Tracker to check out the latest software, but you will no doubt have to check each and every program you are thinking of updating to see which version you have. With Update Agent 3.0, that’s not necessary. Update Agent will scan your hard drive, log onto Insider Software’s server, and let you know which programs require updating. You then decide which programs you want to update, click a button, and download either the update or the latest version of the software. It’s really that simple!
The CD-ROM version also comes with two CDs holding 1.3GBs of updated software, though there may be a new version on-line. However, not every program is updated on a regular basis, and the version on the CD may be the latest and greatest. In every way it’s a real time saver over downloading from the Internet.
Update Agent is great. It’s fast: it scanned my whole 4GB hard drive in a very short time, and when you connect to the Insider Software’s fast Internet server, all the programs and updates are located right there. This means your downloading time is much shorter.
Pricing varies depending on your needs. For $9.95, you can download the “on-line only” version of Update Agent and use it once; updating everything in one fell swoop. You can also buy the one year on-line edition, allowing you to download all your updates for a full year for only $49.95. The best, however, is the $89.95 edition that will never run out. (though for $249.95 you will receive four update CD-ROMs rather than just the first two.)
This is a great product, and Insider Software is to be commended for a great concept and implementation. It is super easy to use, and it brings the full power and convenience of the Internet to your desktop. I highly recommend Update Agent 3.0!
MacMice Rating: 4.5
Tim Robertson
publisher@mymac.com
Websites mentioned:
http://www.insidersoftware.com
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