Online Patching Systems?

Posted by Cliff on Wednesday February 18, 2004 @10:50AM from the updating-binaries dept.

Master_Flash asks: "My company is preparing to distribute an online Windows application that will change over time (don't they all?). We been evaluating online patch systems. There are a number of commercial applications out there. Some look good: RTPatch from PocketSoft, ASTA Binary Patcher, and Necromancer's FlashUpdate. Has anyone had a positive experience with these or other applications? One other idea we had was to use CVS as a patching system. While CVS isn't technically a binary patch it does a great job at checking on which files need to be updated. Most of the files we have are small and change infrequently, so CVS could work. Opinions and guidance are welcome."

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Hmm... BITS? by Leffe · 2004-02-18 10:59 · Score: 1, Offtopic

An article on the MSDN that might be helpful, it details BITS, a part of the .NET Framework.

I'm not erally sure if it's helpful or not as I haven't read much of it, but I'll post a quote out of it ;)

[I] have to admit, I love the Windows(R) Update feature. My computer is connected to the Internet about 85 percent of the time that it is turned on and yet, like most people, I certainly don't use the network that much. Windows XP takes advantage of this unused bandwidth by comparing the most recent service packs and hotfixes available online with those installed on my machine. If it finds I need updates, it downloads them in the background. Once completed, Windows notifies me of the arrival of new bits that need to be installed.