Grupenet

One of the great features of Ubuntu and other Linux distributions is the ability to include third party application updates alongside regular operating system level software updates. Both Windows and Mac OS X are somewhat lacking in this area, with Windows as the higher-lacking of the two.

Fortunately on the OS X side, software developer metaquark has released an application by the name of AppFresh which aims to fill the gap of the need for a central application updater.

Currently, AppFresh is available as a Development Preview, so it is recommended that you back up all of your applications before using AppFresh if you intend to use the built-in update installer. If you’d rather stay on the safe side, AppFresh can still be used to check for and download updates excluding the automatic update installer process.

AppFresh also includes integration of iusethis.com. This allows AppFresh to also check for updates to applications that are not natively supported but are listed in the iusethis database. It also allows you to easily add new apps to your iusethis profile without having to search for each app beforehand.

Another interesting feature is the ability to take a “snapshot” of an application, which captures the current version of the application along with the application data and preferences. It’s basically Time Machine for your apps.

More information can be found at the AppFresh website.

If you’re reading this, I appreciate the fact that you’re actually reading my blog as I haven’t updated it in a loooong time. Unfortunately, with my new work schedule at my new job and keeping up with school I just don’t have the time I used to.

Also, in my free time I’ve been writing hardware reviews over at my friend’s site, Tech Gear. Go ahead and check out my Antec notebook coolers review and my new Antec A/V Cooler review. I’ll continue to write reviews regularly over there, so if you miss me enough, you can hop over to Tech Gear and see what I’m up to until I post here again, which may or may not happen in the near future.

In other news, I finally got a MacBook and have been enjoying playing around with it. You’ll probably see many more Mac OS X tips and tricks on here than before. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll still be doing Windows articles, just not as many. I’ll try my best to balance out all the Windows, OS X, and Linux articles I write.

That’s all for now!

And sorry to those of you who have been getting errors on my site. I completely forgot to re-activate all my plugins after updating WordPress.