MacUpdate - "Something big is coming"
So Macupdate.com has been running their Something Big is Coming banner now for a few days.
At first I was just thinking "ok, here comes the new MUPROMO bundle" but this is feeling a bit different. I think they're going to announce internal changes. Here's my pure speculation :
1. They're going to unleash a whole new "written from the ground up" Mac OS X app. It's not only going to track your software updates but by linking into Sparkle frameworks it's also going to manage updating all of your apps easily. It'll be a desktop app written around Webkit for web enabled features.
2. It's going to have a built in license tracker with easy importing of license info from various apps and file formats.
3. It's going to be cheaper (perhaps 25 dollars per year)
4. "Not Invented Syndrome" will be gone. Not only will your wishlist track MUPROMO deals but it'll also track MacZot, MacHeist and other similar services. You'll always get the best prices and Macupdate gets a small cut via referral.
5. Review, comments etc can be accessed and added from within the app and RSS feeds for individual apps will be available.
6. Revamped UI website and the addition of a forum is added.
7. Potentially an iPhone app of some sort and at the least MobileMe support so that you can access license information from just about anywhere.
The reason why I believe this is because the tedium of managing say 30+ apps that are frequently updated becomes a bit of a chore. Having a centralized tool that links to such an excellent resource is very powerful.
Mac software developers are leveraging unique ways of distributing their software and Macupdate.com is going to leverage these innovations into success...if they're smart.
At first I was just thinking "ok, here comes the new MUPROMO bundle" but this is feeling a bit different. I think they're going to announce internal changes. Here's my pure speculation :
1. They're going to unleash a whole new "written from the ground up" Mac OS X app. It's not only going to track your software updates but by linking into Sparkle frameworks it's also going to manage updating all of your apps easily. It'll be a desktop app written around Webkit for web enabled features.
2. It's going to have a built in license tracker with easy importing of license info from various apps and file formats.
3. It's going to be cheaper (perhaps 25 dollars per year)
4. "Not Invented Syndrome" will be gone. Not only will your wishlist track MUPROMO deals but it'll also track MacZot, MacHeist and other similar services. You'll always get the best prices and Macupdate gets a small cut via referral.
5. Review, comments etc can be accessed and added from within the app and RSS feeds for individual apps will be available.
6. Revamped UI website and the addition of a forum is added.
7. Potentially an iPhone app of some sort and at the least MobileMe support so that you can access license information from just about anywhere.
The reason why I believe this is because the tedium of managing say 30+ apps that are frequently updated becomes a bit of a chore. Having a centralized tool that links to such an excellent resource is very powerful.
Mac software developers are leveraging unique ways of distributing their software and Macupdate.com is going to leverage these innovations into success...if they're smart.
Comments
On May 23rd 09 Misha the COO of macupdate.com says this about their laggard Macupdate Desktop app.
MISHA As the note at the top of this listing in bold says, we're getting ready to launch MUD5. It's a full re-write and quite excellent so far. It's in late beta and we expect a release in a few
This was after I had already composed my message and decided to check the latest reviews of their software so I wasn't basing my post on Misha's commentary here.
I think it's pretty clear that Macupdate needs refreshed desktop app to manage software. Metaquark has been working on AppFresh seemingly forever but it links with iusethis.com which is inferior to macupdate.com IMO.
Macupdate is sitting on a gold mine here. I rarely go to versiontracker.com anymore (talk about wasting potential) and that used to be THE spot for me to check on updates. With the bundles and refreshed desktop client software I expect Misha and crew to deliver something that's better than the competition.
A yearly subscription service to update your program automatically? Sounds worse than paying a yearly subscription for antivirus. Don't most, if not all programs have an option to update automatically?
Yes ....through the Sparkle frameworks most apps do auto-update now. Though I wouldn't mind a service that could update the apps without having to launch them in conjunction with a watchlist and license tracker.