Auto updater

[rene.ellegaard]

From Windows XP Service Pack 2 the auto updater was introduced. This
functionality getting updates automatically when a new version is
available is especially nice for the end customer.

In our next generation software package it's in the plan to have an
auto updater automatically taking care of the update of the program.
We do not have experiences with auto updaters so the question is if we
should develop this yourself or use something already existing. Some
of the existing auto updaters is client server based. Other are not.

We intent to use the auto updater for
1. Automatically install new updates when they are available on a
central server.
2. Inform the user with product notes.
3. Subscribe to the auto updater from more than one program.
4. To have the possibility to license base our software (fx. subscribe
for a year).
5. To keep track on all the users.

Does anyone have any experiences with this. Something is available
within MS Visual Studio but also a lot of external components are
available. Looking forward receiving some feedback.

BR,
REA

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Automatic Updating functionality was introduced in Windows 2000, and
Automatic Updates was included in Windows 2000 SP3 and every Windows
(client) version since then (e.g., WinXP Gold). The Windows Update
Notification Tool was available in Win9x.
--
~PA Bear

From Windows XP Service Pack 2 the auto updater was introduced. This
functionality getting updates automatically when a new version is
available is especially nice for the end customer.

<snip>