The user is forced to go through the classic "hunting season" when it comes to updates. Every program you open warns about the existence of a new version, and if you consider downloading installers manually, it goes beyond tedious. Patch My PC aims to simplify the whole process, reporting outdated versions and performing the necessary downloads.
Granted: We have all left an update for later at some point. If the program doesn't play a critical role or directly affects the security of the system, it can always wait a couple more days, and another couple more days… until we realize that the installation is two or three versions behind the latest official build.
As usual in these cases, the effect is cumulative, and it's not entirely pleasant to discover that there are a dozen programs in the same situation. The conventional procedure is to visit the developer's page, download the appropriate installer, and bring the software up to date... assuming that the latest version is not worse than the previous one. The ghost of downgrade hovers around every computer, and to avoid bitter moments, it's advisable to inform yourself beforehand.
Update all your programs with a single click
This is how we arrive at Patch My PC. The program is a kind of "Windows Update" for most of the software installed on your computer. Names in green indicate that the latest version is already present in the system, while entries in red warn about a new version. Patch My PC offers the option to download installers and proceed with each update automatically. Additionally, it offers a quite capable uninstaller, similar to CCleaner's, and the number of configuration options is more than sufficient.
Although compatibility with every single installer is not guaranteed (which would require a manual download), most of them have behaved as expected in our test. Patch My PC also offers to download hotfixes that may have been left behind in Windows Update, but that's a task I prefer to leave to Microsoft.
Patch My PC is a portable executable of just 1.71 MB that can be placed on any maintenance USB drive without problems. The truth is that it has been with us for some years, however, it has always maintained a Spartan line in its interface, focusing more on content than appearance. The list of supported programs grows over time, so I think it's worth following it.
