Oil Change for Windows 95

Oil Change for Windows 95 Quick Desc: An awesome agent that automatically downloads product updates and bug fixes for you Location: ftp://ftp.cybermedia.com/oilchange/ocbeta3.exe Version: Beta 3 Size: 2261 Company: CyberMedia Inc. Website: http://www.cybermedia.com/oil/ochome.htm Imagine a program that automatically updates your favorite programs with new features and bug fixes as soon as they are released. How about a program that will automatically inform you of obsolete software and then, upon your request, proceed to download the latest version currently available. What was previously possible only through Internet sites like The CWSApps List is now attainable via software -- CyberMedia's Oil Change makes all of this possible and more. Oil Change scans the applications on your hard drive and then checks its central software repository to determine if any newer versions have been released. Access to both 16-bit and 32-bit clients is provided and updates for products like Adobe Acrobat and Photoshop, Microsoft Word and Excel, Niko Mak's WinZip, Netscape Navigator and Netscape Plug-in Modules, Internet Explorer and ActiveX Controls, and more can all be automatically downloaded with Oil Change. You can even get updates for Windows 95 and NT as they become available. Oil Change allows you to try new updates out and then provides you with an option to uninstall them and leave the old versions on your computer if you so choose. The potential for such a product is unlimited, but the current release exhibits only a small fraction of the possibilities. One current limitation of Oil Change is that it only identifies new versions of applications already installed on your machine. For example, unless a previous release is already installed on your computer, you won't be able to download the latest version of Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, or similar program. Oil Change could also do a better job of letting you know exactly what improvements the new updates are making to your existing applications. Another limitation is that Oil Change only identifies a tiny percentage of the thousands of software applications available both on and off the 'net. You won't find the latest updates to popular programs like Agent, Eudora, CuteFTP, mIRC, WordPerfect, LapLink, and a multitude of other clients. However, Oil Change is still in beta release, and I wouldn't be surprised if the number of vendors to sign on with CyberMedia and Oil Change increases exponentially over the next few months. Oil Change may not render The CWSApps List obsolete, but it does provide an attractive alternative for keeping you up to date with the latest and greatest software applications. Pros: Automatically downloads product updates and bug fixes, quick and easy to use Cons: Vendor support needs to be improved, new products should be offered as well New: This is the initial review for Oil Change Version Reviewed: Beta 3 Date of Review: 8/18/96