Painless Application Deployment

I am a big fan of tools which make life easier. There are certain IT types from on high (usually with beards) who scoff at things such as wizards (of the computing variety, not the folks with pointy hats) or even a GUI. To these people you aren’t a “proper” techy unless you can reverse engineer operating system code or some other such nonsense.

However, those us with considerably less time free on our calendars can appreciate a piece of software that makes our lives just a little bit easier. Today I’m talking about a great new tool for easily installing multiple applications at once called Ninite.

This is especially timely given that large numbers of people are enjoying the wonders of Windows 7 and are faced with the unwanted task of having to reinstall software. I’m sure there are many people out there who have all of their essential applications stored on a flash drive that goes everywhere with them (just like I do) but can’t help getting fed up with installing scores of applications such as a PDF reader, CCleaner and Defraggler (which I have extolled the virtues of here before), Firefox, Skype, etc.

Ninite is a new web service from a startup in San Francisco which makes the installation of free applications a wholly painless experience. As you can see from the screenshot here it is extremely simple. Simply browse the list of applications, put a tick in the box of each one you require and create a tiny custom installer executable program.

Run the program and Ninite will scurry off and download your choice of applications and install them for you accepting all the default options and denying all the bloatware such as browser toolbars or add-ins. And that is it! No repeatedly clicking Next, de-selecting the unwanted “features” and generally getting fed up. Just let Ninite run, grab a drink of your favourite beverage and wait patiently.

Right now Ninite is free to everyone, and the premium features are enabled for all to use. My personal favourite here is the ability to create a local cache of the installer files. Simply create a folder next to your custom installer called NiniteCache and the application will download the software direct to here.

Then if you have multiple computers that require the same software, just run the installer on them and have it all install from the cached files saving your precious internet bandwith.
You can even create different installers for machines that may require perhaps maybe just Firefox and Skype. Again the installer will look to your local cache and pull the installer files out from here. The cache can also be located on a network share if you so desire.

As I have already mentioned, these premium features are currently free to everyone but they will revert to a pay model in due course. But the basic functionality will always be free. So for someone who builds a lot of computers and has a decent broadband internet connection, Ninite is an absolute Godsend.