Keeping up with the versions
While I am using Linux distros for my desktop for some time now (more than 3 years), I still have one or two Windows machines around. The burden of keeping these machines up to date is significally augmented by the addition of all the "chores" I (don't want but have to) do for friends wanting "a good antivirus", "a fresh install" or "a good and free video converter". So the need arises to keep a tab on the windows world of freeware and shareware utilities. For that reason I usually have a nice subset in mind whenever the need arises, or I even use one of the carefully collected freeware/shareware collections of utilities some of my friends prepare.
The problem though is that I have a very hard time keeping up with the evolution of software features and versions. I know there is some software to keep tabs on installed software versions (RadarSync) and I have heard of another piece of software, in fact a Firefox plugin, which can check versions of software from a list (wfx_versions). What I currently use is the subscription to the FileHippo RSS feed which notifies me of news about a filtered list of software.
However all these options are basically flowed according to my opinion. They are based around the fact that one user has found some X package which does whatever the user wants and the user wants to keep up to date with the X versions. Well, this is hardly the case for most. What I would like to see is a kind of notification service which groups software in categories and informs me of changes in these categories. Then I would like to be able to filter the categories as a whole (maybe I am not interested in FTP clients) or block notifications from specific pieces of software (I may not want to be informed on shareware; or I don't care at all about X package, I am an Y user after all).
Once in a while, I will be able to visit a category, let's say Antivirus software, and see what's new for that category. I will limit the list only to the software that is free for personal use. I will be able to disregard news about specific antivirus software that I have tested once and I may not find appropriate for me at all. And then I can move on to visit web sites and compare the offerings to see if I have to change my previous pick from the list, or continue keeping the same piece of software but update it to the most current version. The list of options will be certainly smaller.
The last feature I want is to be able to set one of the packages in each category as a favorite. So many times I have compared software for a specific personal task, moved on, and found myself in the need to reevaluate the same packages because I don't remember which one was the best. If this "ideal" service allowed me to set one piece as favorite, after having checked 3-4 different packages, I would be able to more quickly find what I want, and then, if I had time, do a reevaluation with the other packages to maybe change my favorite.
But this is not an ideal world, and maybe I have grown a little bit to dependant on the Gentoo Portage and the Debian/Ubuntu Synaptic ;)
