Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Freeware
Volery relaunches as Ninite - still a hassle-free way to install great, free software
by Lee Mathews Oct 23rd 2009 at 10:00AM
While most users won't find Ninite all that useful (there is one exception which I'll be writing about later today), the "computer friend" or family technician will probably love it.
Instead of sitting around while you wait for a dozen of your favorite apps to finish installing on a pal's computer, just check off what you want on the Ninite web site, launch your customized installer, and sit back while the magic happens. Or raid your buddy's fridge - hey, even free work deserves some kind of compensation, right?
The list of available apps has increased since Volery debuted, and now includes more than 50. Among them are favorites like Firefox, Google Chrome, Skype, VLC, OpenOffice, Microsoft Security Essentials, ImgBurn, 7-zip, and many others.
As Brad mentioned before, pay-only pro options are coming but details are still a bit unclear. According to the site, they may include things like local and network share download caching, as well as a totally silent mode.
Now, as freeware or donationware I think Ninite makes sense. I'm not sure users who would find the advanced features useful will be all that excited about paying. After all, you can pull off this kind of kung fu with Ketarin and a little bit of elbow grease -- and Ketarin is completely free.
Pro tip: when you launch your customized installer on Vista or Windows 7, you may need to right-click and run as administrator for Ninite to install properly.
Instead of sitting around while you wait for a dozen of your favorite apps to finish installing on a pal's computer, just check off what you want on the Ninite web site, launch your customized installer, and sit back while the magic happens. Or raid your buddy's fridge - hey, even free work deserves some kind of compensation, right?
The list of available apps has increased since Volery debuted, and now includes more than 50. Among them are favorites like Firefox, Google Chrome, Skype, VLC, OpenOffice, Microsoft Security Essentials, ImgBurn, 7-zip, and many others.
As Brad mentioned before, pay-only pro options are coming but details are still a bit unclear. According to the site, they may include things like local and network share download caching, as well as a totally silent mode.
Now, as freeware or donationware I think Ninite makes sense. I'm not sure users who would find the advanced features useful will be all that excited about paying. After all, you can pull off this kind of kung fu with Ketarin and a little bit of elbow grease -- and Ketarin is completely free.
Pro tip: when you launch your customized installer on Vista or Windows 7, you may need to right-click and run as administrator for Ninite to install properly.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Pakiprince86 said 10:06AM on 10-23-2009
Haha, for once, Lee, I knew about this before you did. Or before Brad wrote about it earlier. I am actually ecstatic about that fact that I had to post for the first time...icluding Engadget, and all the other affiliated sites. But makes sense, DLS is best out of all so naturally I would comment for the first time here.
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Ubernoober said 12:54PM on 10-23-2009
I used this last week during beta on my new windows 7 install, it was flawless and exactly what I was looking for. But why the name change??
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Chad Palmer said 5:34PM on 10-23-2009
One question.. does anyone know if these installers will always download the latest versions, or are they tied to the version you choose when you build it? i.e if I build one now with Firefox 3.5, and later 3.6 comes out if I use that installer on a new PC will it download and install 3.6 instead?
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